2007-01-16 09:10:12 · 14 answers · asked by Zezo 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
first off, the gravitational pull of most other planets make them get off course (Jupiter, for example) and even if they get close our Atmosphere is quite good at burning up Meteors (Good old Ozone!)
2007-01-16 09:15:36 · answer #1 · answered by Garrett B 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Earth is bombarded by some hundreds of tons of material from space every day. Most of this burns up on entry into our atmosphere, but some does strike the ground.
The reason craters aren't more apprent are because of the effects of weather, water and erosion. Even a very large crater can be filled up with water such as Ontario Canada's Lake Wanapitei. Even mountains can be worn flat my a few million years of erosion.
Hope that helps.
2007-01-16 09:18:22 · answer #2 · answered by cailano 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
@loon_mall...
You are pretty much right, but although Hudson Bay has been suggested as a impact crater (by Larry Niven in one of his books, if I remember correctly) I believe it's actually a very large subsidence of the Earth's crust due to the weight of the glaciers that covered the area in the last ice age. Now that the ice is gone the crust is 'bouncing back' and the Bay is actually slowing shirnking.
2007-01-16 09:20:36 · answer #3 · answered by Michael E 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The earth doesn't have as many craters because of gravity and because we're probably not in the way of the big rocks that make craters.
2007-01-16 09:21:19 · answer #4 · answered by AnswerGal6 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In a word, water.
Erosion and weather make them fill in or erode to be hard to identify as craters. It's only been in the last couple of centuries that we even confirmed meteor impacts here on Earth, and some seemingly obvious geological formations have only recently been identified as impacts, like Yucatan and Hudson bay for example.
2007-01-16 09:14:13 · answer #5 · answered by loon_mallet_wielder 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Well, the atmosphere does a good job of getting rid of the small ones, but the Moon actually helps a lot in deflecting them. Even when they aren't directly hitting the Moon instead of Earth, the Moon's gravity often throws them enough off course to miss the Earth. It's very possible that life couldn't have evolved on Earth without the Moon to get rid of many major catastrophies.
2007-01-16 09:13:40 · answer #6 · answered by eri 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Erosion hides them. There isn't any erosion on the moon since there is no wind or water. Mars has erosion from wind so many craters would be filled with sand.
2007-01-16 18:35:47 · answer #7 · answered by aorton27 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
we have an atmosphere that destroys the asteroids and meters that come tords are plant sorta like a shield made of fire vs some body throwing baseballs at it. the other plants have greater gravity and no protective shields. Even so some larger astroids make it past are atmosphere and erosion covers up alot of those
2007-01-16 09:15:30 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because earths outer atmosphere protects us. It burns up most meteors and other things in space before they ever reach the earth. The moon and other planets do not have this outer atmosphere and do not burn them up as readily, therefore even the smallest meteors get in and crash into their surfaces.
2007-01-16 09:14:10 · answer #9 · answered by jade_frost82 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Also, the majority of the planet is made of water.. so it's more likely that they would hit the water and therefore we can't see them.
2007-01-16 09:17:41 · answer #10 · answered by Aly G 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It does, but most of them have been hidden over the years by erosion and the grow of plants and such -- the process of life and weather wipes them out.
2007-01-16 09:14:47 · answer #11 · answered by Dave_Stark 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋