If a meteorite would hit earth, what would it look like?

Question

I was watching the discovery channel, they where talking about when the meteorite hit that killed off the dinosaures. I was wondering what it would look like. If a big wave would form or fiery pieces would rain on the plait burning unmatched.

Answer 1

Go out tonight to a dark place, get a lawn chair, look up and you'll see a few every hour.

Answer 2

Haven't you answered your own question here. You already know that no such event has happened during the age of technology, so nothing like it has actually been recorded up close and personal. All svcientists have are the indirect measurements of distant events, distant by space or distant by time. The best that you're going to get is what simulation you saw on the Discovery Channel.

A side note: I am appalled by the fascination of wanting to "be there" when all of life comes to a fiery hellish end. You're not alone, kiddo. I've seen so many "younger folks" ask about being at "ground zero" for a thermonuclear blast, The Sun burning itself out into a planet-engulfing Red Giant, or some other catastrophe, that it worries me. It appears there is an element of the younger generation that would "push the RED button" (and I don't mean the "EASY" button) just to see what would happen.

Answer 3

from the IMO website (International Meteor Organization): Meteorite
A natural object of extraterrestrial origin (meteoroid) that survives passage through the atmosphere and hits the ground

A visitor center video at Arizona's Meteor Crater shows a meteorite of that size appearing as a bright point-source light (like a train headlight) and then rapidly expanding to fill more and more of your field of view as it approaches. Even if you noticed it at point of entry into the atmosphere, it would probably smack into your neighborhood in less time than you would need to begin even worrying about what was about to happen.

If you were lucky enough to not be in its path, I am guessing it would look like any other fireball, only much larger, and with an impact dwarfing that of a nuclear explosion. Better do some web research on that scenario. There was a movie which came out around the same time as the Bruce Willis movie Armaggedon which tried to picture such an event, tidal waves and the whole bit, I bet that had some kernels of solid research behind it, maybe dressed up for movie consumption but basically accurate?

Answer 4

Yahoo or Google search for the Tunguska event and see if you can find some pictures of the blast area. It was caused by a small, on astronomical scale at least, meteor. Scientists estimate the object's size was about 60 ft in diameter. The blast area is similar to destruction and aftermath of the atomic device used in WWII at Nagasaki. Trees were left standing directly under the blast location, but were blown down around it.
If a rock of substantial size were to make it through the atmosphere and impact the surface, or air burst just above like Tunguska, the resulting release of kinetic energy a la F=ma, it would create a blast wave and mushroom cloud and flash of light.
We will eventually be hit by such an object again, let's just hope we get lucky and it isn't for at least another thousand years or so. Then we should have much more capable technology to deflect and prevent such an impact.

Answer 5

the possibilities of a large asteroid hitting the Earth is one hundred%.No astronomer might want to disagree with that fact. The perplexing section is understanding even as.it would want to come around the blind area of the solar and hit us with little note....or it would want to easily as both hit in 50,000,000 years.On a scale of human lifetime,tremendous impacts are astronomically uncommon(excuse the pun),so it isn't going to ensue each and every time quickly.basically make no mistake,it would want to. we are engaged on monitoring the tremendous asteroids,we do no longer have all their orbits yet.Of the smaller,city killers.we are not even on the brink of figuring out all of them,a lot less monitoring their orbits.again,they are engaged on it. at present,we do not have any protection hostile to an asteroid impression.we've concepts,no longer some thing extra.except there is a few authentic secret labeled mission occurring,we do not have any plan for an impression,except storing the worlds seeds in a bunker in Antarctica to reseed the Earth after an impression(we've easily executed that.google it)upload to that the area holiday software is finished this twelve months,and we do no longer have a successor software,our in ordinary words plan to face up there is to connect a holiday with the Russians(authentic) So even as the possibilities are very a lot in want of a large asteroid strike no longer taking position in a million years,those similar odds does no longer be "incorrect"if one hit next twelve months.Small possibility,yet were it to ensue,at present,we do not have any protection,none,nada.If we are not given adequate caution,we does no longer have time to mount a protection if we had one.

Answer 6

Google Images
meteorite 61,800 hits

Answer 7

it would be very large, like the size of the moon when it struck earth.

Answer 8

It would look like................SPLAT!!!

Doug