REPORT ABUSIVE REPLY
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Message Subject
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Potential Epic Comet Collision with Mars in 2014 *UPDATE: VIDEO ON FIRST POST*
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Poster Handle
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Dr. Astro |
Post Content
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Since C/2013 A1 is a hyperbolic comet and moves in a retrograde orbit, its velocity with respect to the planet will be very high, approximately 56 km/s. With the current estimate of the absolute magnitude of the nucleus M2 = 10.3, which might indicate the diameter of over 50 km, the energy of impact might reach the equivalent of staggering 2×10¹º megatonnes! This kind of event can leave a crater 500 km across and 2 km deep. Such an event would overshadow even the famous bombardment of Jupiter by the disintegrated comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 in July 1994, which by some estimates was originally 15 m in diameter. [ link to spaceobs.org] Quoting: catsscratchfever Wow. I plugged those numbers into the Solar System Collision page ( [ link to janus.astro.umd.edu] ) and came up with this: Energy Released: 19 billion MT (MegaTons of TNT) (Energy needed to Boil Earth's Oceans: 2000 billion MT) QUAKE!! Magnitude 12.5 (largest recorded Earthquake: 9.5) Crater Diameter: 659.0 km Crater Depth: 4.1 km Collisions this energetic occurred only early in the Solar System's history. Quoting: BoxerLvr Staggering, isn't it?
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