Why comets are more of a threat to us than asteroids.?

Answer 1

They are not. Quoting from the recent NASA report:

"Comets - The frequency with which long-period comets closely approach the Earth is roughly one-hundredth the frequency of asteroids. This is a relatively small risk, and
therefore should not be included in the goals of the next survey." (p.28)

On the other hand long-period comets are likely to have quite a high impact velocity so the energy release for a given sized object is likely to be higher than for an asteroid. Even so the relative contribution of the comet population to the long-term risk is still estimated at less than 10%.

Answer 2

Some good answers here. Comets come from the outer solar system. We probably wouldn't see it coming until a couple months or maybe even only a couple weeks before it gets here. Also, a comet coming from the outer solar system will be moving much faster when it strikes Earth than an asteroid would, releasing a great deal more energy. So, a comet doesn't have to be very big to do a lot of damage. Also, it's great speed would make it very difficult to deflect.

Answer 3

Assuming that's true, comets generally show up unannounced. The path of most near-earth asteroids are known, but comets mostly come from outside the solar system (the Oort cloud) and are unknown until they suddently show up. Therefore there would be little warning. It wouldn't really matter how much warning there is, however, since we can't do very much about it.

Answer 4

Who said that comets are a greater threat than asteroids?
Both pose a threat to Earth.

Comets are generally detected far from Earth (as the sun heats the nucleus and creates a coma and tail).
Asteroids are dark and not as easily detected.

Answer 5

I do not believe that this is true. Although we still do not know a lot about comets, we do know that the body of a comet is not solid rock like meteors. Comets are also easier to find with telescopes because they create "tails" as they are eroded by the energy coming from the sun. I believe that most (or all) the craters we see on earth, on the moon, and on other planets were created by meteors.

Answer 6

because there are more comets for one, plus many of them are in unstable orbits that bring them close to the planets. most asteroids are in stable orbits around the sun and do not pose any threat to us at all.

comets however tend to be in orbits that bring them closer to the planets which in turn can change their o0rbits significantly causing them to possibly impact a planet such as earth.

plus at the outer edge of the solar system, in the kuiper belt, and oort cloud regions there are billions of these comets and if a stray planet, black hole, star, or something comes to close it can cause some comets to "fall" into the inner solar system, thereby making the comet threat greater and more unpredictable.

Answer 7

hey if a huge comet collided into earth we would die steadily from the dust that it has created in the air!!!