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Chapter 15: Problem 48

. In the 1998 movie Armageddon, an asteroid "the size of Texas" is on a collision course with Earth. The asteroid is first discovered by astronomers just 18 days prior to impact. To avert disaster, a team of astronauts blasts the asteroid into two pieces just 4 hours before impact. Discuss the plausibility of this scenario. (Hint: On average, the state of Texas extends for about \(750 \mathrm{~km}\) from north to south and from east to west. How does this compare with the size of the largest known asteroids?)

Short Answer

Expert verified
The scenario presented in the movie Armageddon of an asteroid the size of Texas is unlikely due to the rarity of asteroids of this size, the improbability of such a late detection, and the impracticality of a corrective action taken only 4 hours before impact.

Step by step solution

01

Size of Texas

Texas has approximate dimensions of \(750 \mathrm{~km}\) north-south and east-west. Hence in comparison, an asteroid of similar size would also be nearly \(750 \mathrm{~km}\) in diameter.
02

Compare with largest known asteroids

The largest known asteroid is Ceres with a diameter of about \(940 \mathrm{~km}\). Indeed, there are asteroids with sizes comparable to that of Texas, but they are very rare. The vast majority of asteroids are much smaller.
03

Discuss the plausibility

The scenario from the movie seems highly unlikely for several reasons: Firstly, asteroids the size of Texas are exceedingly rare. Secondly, discovering such a large asteroid only 18 days before impact seems unrealistic given today's astronomical capabilities. Thirdly, the idea of splitting such a massive object merely 4 hours before impact and expecting both halves to bypass the earth is considerably far-fetched.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Use the Starry Night Enthusiast ?M program to study the motion of a comet. First set up the field of view so that you are observing the inner solar system from a distance (select Solar System > Inner Solar system in the Favourites menu). In the toolbar, click on the Stop button to halt the animation, and then set the date to January 1,1995 , and the time step to 1 day. Select View \(>\) Solar System \(>\) Asteroids in the menu to remove the asteroids from the view. Open the Find pane and center on Comet Hyakutake by typing "Hyakutake" in the Search All Databases box and then pressing the Enter key. Use the Zoom controls to decrease the field of view to about \(25^{\circ} \times\) \(17^{\circ}\). Then click on the Run Time Forward button. (a) Watch the motion of Comet Hyakutake for at least two years of simulated time. Describe what you see. Is the comet's orbit in about the same plane as the orbits of the inner planets, or is it steeply inclined to that plane? (You can tilt the plane of the solar system by holding down the Shift key while clicking on and moving the mouse to investigate this off-ecliptic motion.) How does the comet's speed vary as it moves along its orbit? During which part of the orbit is the tail visible? In what direction does the tail point? (b) Click on the Stop button to halt the animation, and set up the field of view so that you are observing from the center of a transparent Earth by selecting Guides \(>\) Atlas in the Favourites menu. Set the date to January 1, 1995, and the Time Flow Rate to 1 day, and again center on Comet Hyakutake. Use the controls at the righthand end of the toolbar to zoom out as far as possible. Then click on the Run Time Forward button and watch the comet's motion for at least two years of simulated time. Describe the motion, and explain why it is more complicated than the motion you observed in part (a). (c) Stop the animation, set the date to today's date, set the Time Flow Rate to 1 month ("lunar m."), and restart the animation. Comet Hyakutake is currently moving almost directly away from the Sun and so, as seen from the Sun, its position on the celestial sphere should not change. Is this what you see in Stamy Night Enthusiast \(\mathrm{\text {??? }}\) Explain any differences. (Hint: You are observing from the Earth, not the Sun.)

A very crude model of a typical comet nucleus is a cube of ice (density \(1000 \mathrm{~kg} / \mathrm{m}^{3}\) ) \(10 \mathrm{~km}\) on a side. (a) What is the mass of this nucleus? (b) Suppose \(1 \%\) of the mass of the nucleus evaporates away to form the comet's tail. Suppose further that the tail is 100 million \(\left(10^{8}\right) \mathrm{km}\) long and 1 million \(\left(10^{6}\right) \mathrm{km}\) wide. Estimate the average density of the tail (in \(\mathrm{kg} / \mathrm{m}^{3}\) ). For comparison, the density of the air you breathe is about \(1.2 \mathrm{~kg} / \mathrm{m}^{3}\). (c) In 1910 the Earth actually passed through the tail of Comet Halley. At the time there was some concern among the general public that this could have deleterious effects on human health. Was this concern justified? Why or why not?

Describe the asteroid belt. Does it lie completely within the plane of the ecliptic? What are its inner and outer radii?

Discuss the idea that 1 Ceres should be regarded as the smallest dwarf planet rather than the largest asteroid. What are the advantages of this scheme? What are the disadvantages?

If Jupiter was not present in our solar system, would the asteroid belt exist? Why or why not?
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