Hey there! Do you know the approximate size an asteroid or other body would have to be to destroy the earth? I don't mean kill the life off. I mean break the earth into fragments. Any geusses?
2007-05-10 10:06:00 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
You got some bullshit answers on this question. Let me tell you what my astronomy professor taught us about asteroids.
There are only 30 asteroids that have their diameter larger than 120 miles. 200 asteroids have a diameter larger than 50 miles.
An asteroid that about 1km can destroy a small state.
Over 1 km can destroy medium sized states. When something this large enters into the atmosphere and hits the Earth, ejecta is tossed into the air so that the sun is blocked, the ozone layer is destroyed and the temperatures on the planet will decrease from lack of sunlight.
With this know, Earth would have to be hit with something quite larger than 1 km....maybe 3 km or 5 km in order to block sunlight enough that everything would be killed.
In order to break the Earth apart, Earth would have to be hit with something the size that everyone else has guessed, but GUESS WHAT...ther are no asteroids out that that large. The largest asteroids are about 120 miles in diameter. The moon has a radius of 1,069 miles...and half of that is no where as little as 120 miles.
Logically it would never happen because there are no asteroids that large. Obviously, we would see something heading towards us that large, BUT there are other things in the solar system that could hit us and do a lot of damage, but the Earth being split into pieces...not possible!
2007-05-10 14:00:15 · answer #1 · answered by hotblondbabe420 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
1/2 the the size of the earth
2007-05-10 19:02:02 · answer #2 · answered by naruto fan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The asteroid would have to be larger than the moon, because the moon was an asteroid that collided with Earth, and the planet survived (and got a satellite, too..Lol).
2007-05-10 17:09:29 · answer #3 · answered by Spilamilah 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm guessing it would probably be the size of Earth or even bigger. Because the atmosphere wears down a comet and it will become smaller as it flies thourhg the sky.
2007-05-10 20:11:21 · answer #4 · answered by ZooTycoonMaster 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Probably around the size of the moon
2007-05-10 17:08:17 · answer #5 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
one fourth the size of earth. smaller if moving at extreme speed.
2007-05-10 17:12:27 · answer #6 · answered by ZentheWeb LIVES!!! 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
V V big
2007-05-10 17:16:22 · answer #7 · answered by azrim h 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
really big
lol
2007-05-10 17:13:53 · answer #8 · answered by oxonina14oxo 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋