A ‘planetary killer’ could crash on Earth

Astronomers consider it a “planetary killer” because if it hits Earth, it will cause ecological destruction.

Astronomers recently discovered a giant asteroid called 2022AP7, with a diameter of 1,500 meters, the orbit of this asteroid moves inside the Earth’s orbit and crosses the Earth’s orbit. Astronomers call asteroids this size “planetary killer”, Once it hits Earth, it will cause an ecological disaster.

Orbit of asteroid 2022AP7.

Orbit of asteroid 2022AP7.

This type of asteroid is very difficult to find because it is hidden in the direction of the Sun and its rays. Too strong will obscure their location. Large, advanced telescopes like Hubble and Webb must be protected from the Sun’s glare, which can damage their fragile optical systems and render them unable to detect such asteroids.

Astronomers took advantage of the short sunset window and used it Dark Energy Camera (DECam) installed on the Victor M. Blanco 4-meter telescope at the Inter-American Tololo Mountain Observatory in Chile to explore three asteroids orbiting Earth. With the exception of 2022 AP7, the remaining two asteroids are numbered as follows: 2021LJ4 And 2021PH27both of which measure kilometers.

These two asteroids have less intersecting orbits with Earth, while 2022 AP7 could pose a major threat to Earth.

When 2022 AP7 was discovered, it was moving 30 million miles from Earth, which seemed a safe distance. But after calculations, this asteroid’s orbit will continue to approach Earth and it will likely come into close contact with Earth at some point in the future.

When 2022 AP7 was discovered, it was traveling 30 million miles from Earth

When 2022 AP7 was discovered, it was traveling 30 million kilometers from Earth.

As for when 2022 AP7 will make contact with Earth, astronomers are still unable to make a judgment and anyway, it won’t appear in 2023.

Indeed, near Earth, up to 19,500 asteroids have been discovered, including more than 2,000 asteroids with a diameter greater than 1 km and hundreds of asteroids with a diameter of 4 km. The orbits of these asteroids will cross Earth’s orbit, and any asteroid coming into close contact with Earth can pose a threat to humanity.

65 million years ago, a 10 km asteroid crashed into Earth, causing the disappearance of the dinosaurs that dominated the Earth for 165 million years, 85% of species became extinct, this changed the evolutionary direction of the state of the ecosystem on our planet.

However, this collision left a crater approximately 280 km in diameter in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Its impact energy was equivalent to approximately 120 trillion tons of TNT explosives, more than 10,000 times the total. Nuclear bombs have been detonated all over the world.

The orbital speed of 2022 AP7 is 17.38 km/s,

The orbital speed of 2022 AP7 is 17.38 km/s.

According to information revealed by scientists, The orbital period of 2022 AP7 (one revolution around the Sun) is 1.830 days (5.01 years), The aphelion measures 5.01 AU (astronomical unit, 1 AU corresponds to approximately 150 million km) and the perihelion measures 0.83 AU, it is considered to have an average diameter of approximately 1.5 km.

The orbital speed of 2022 AP7 is 17.38 km/sbut it won’t be at that speed when it collides with Earth, but at a speed that overlaps with Earth’s rotation speed, scientists say. it will collide with the Earth at a speed of 20 km/s.

This way we can simply calculate according to the formula of impact energy Ɛ=1/2mv^2 and we can get that The energy of 2022 AP7 upon impact with Earth is approximately 7*10^20J, or 7 trillion billion joules, which is equivalent to 167.3 billion tons of TNT equivalent, or approximately 12 .87 million bombs. The atoms dropped on Hiroshima exploded at the same time. .

You should know that the total number of nuclear warheads in the world contains a power of less than 10 billion tons of TNT, in this way, the power of 2022 AP7 is equivalent to the power of all the world’s nuclear bombs superimposed nearly 17 times. .

Although this calculation is not very precise, The impact energy will also vary depending on the impact speed and density of the asteroid.However, historical experience and scientific research have shown that if an asteroid of tens of meters crashes into a densely populated area, it will destroy a city; If an asteroid larger than 100 meters falls, it can destroy a country. As a result, an asteroid larger than a kilometer crashing into Earth will have enough power to cause a devastating disaster for humanity and the ecosystem.

Huge tsunamis and earthquakes will hit the world one after another, and coastal cities could be completely submerged; Fire and smoke obscure the Sun, and the creatures that survive the catastrophe will suffer the consequences of nuclear winter: all plants lose the ability to photosynthesize and die, with herbivores being the first to suffer extinction, predators also perish, the food chain is broken. , creating a mass extinction of species, including microorganisms.

Asteroid 2022 AP7 will not pose a major threat to Earth in the near future.

Asteroid 2022 AP7 will not pose a major threat to Earth in the near future.

Some people may think that humans can have many advanced technologies to save themselves. However, under the impact of a global catastrophe, the most developed coastal cities were submerged, global air pollution, water, electricity and transportation were cut off, thus causing all production activity and life. Modernity is becoming unsustainable.

The nuclear winter might not last long, the Earth’s surface might see sunlight again after a few years or decades. But the Earth at present is no longer the Earth we know, the original species will essentially disappear, and the evolution of new life will take tens of thousands or even tens of millions of years to grow. again.

Fortunately, scientific monitoring has revealed that these Earth-threatening asteroids, including 2022 AP7, will not pose a major threat to Earth in the near future. We still have time to unite and cooperate to develop science, together to face possible disasters.

Article source: PNVN