“Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the . To him was given the key to the bottomless pit.” Revelations 9:1 “And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.” Revelations 9:2 Impacts

A descriptive overview of past events, current ideas, and future consequences. Introduction

 Historically

 An interesting concept that was not seriously explored or studied.  Present

 Hot topic of debate and concern due to recent studies.  Future New Idea?

 We knew impacts were common to our nearest neighbor.  Assumed that lack of atmosphere led to very little protection.  Thus impacts were more frequent. New Information

 Space probes to other planets.

 Voyager Missions  Saw impact craters on other bodies.  Satellites around Earth.

 Noticed possible sites here. Mimas

 One of the moons around Saturn.  Impact crater indicates that impact was just below the level needed to rip moon apart.  Basis for the Death Star. Moons Only?

 Mercury  Shows signs of significant impacting in past.  But once again, Mercury lacks an atmosphere. Natural Protection

 Initially thought atmosphere good enough protection.  Only few sites recognized around globe as impact sites.

 Meteor Crater in Arizona New Technology, New Sites

 Started to locate other sites due to new and improved technology.

 Shuttle view of spacestation over Manicouagan, Canada.  Started looking for sites instead of just chance findings. What are we seeing?

 Did not realize a lot of sites on Earth were impact craters.

 Views from space improved our information.  Erosion and human activity destroying sites. Other Sites Middlesboro, KY.

 City built inside ancient crater.  6 km wide  Over 300 million years old. Serpent Mound, OH

 Found just north of Ky. border.  Mound built on just part of impact ring.  Built about 800 AD by Native Americans.  Over 320 million years old. El’gygytgyn, Russia

 Crater has filled with water over time.  About 3.5 million years old.  18 km in diameter. Roter-Kamm, Namibia

 Found on African plains in Namibia.  About 3.7 million years old .  2.5 km in diameter. Manicouagan, Canada

 Circular lake with town in middle.  100 km in diameter.  About 214 million years old. Wabar, Saudi Arabia

 Found in desert.

 See people in background for scale.  About .116 km in diameter.  Approximately 140 years old. Wolfe Creek, Australia

 Found in Australian Outback.  About 0.875 km in diameter.  A little over 300,000 years old. Tunguska, Siberia

 June 30, 1908 at 7:40 in the morning.  Massive explosion in an uninhabited area of Siberian Province of Russia. Tunguska, Siberia

 Asteroid or exploded in the atmosphere at an altitude of about 6 miles.  Knocked down about 80 million trees.  Shock wave knocked people off their feet and broke windows hundreds of miles away. Tunguska, Siberia

 Blast destruction area covered 830 square miles.  Leonid Kulik was the first scientist to reach the area in 1927.  Found no crater! Tunguska, Siberia

 Later investigators found microscopic glass spheres.  Chemical analysis revealed high levels of nickel and iridium.  These chemicals are very common in , but not on Earth. Chicxulub, Mexico

 Found off coast of Yucatan Peninsula.  About 65 million years old.  170 km across.  Dinosaur Killer?  Sonar image of sea floor. Barringer Crater, AZ

 Meteor Crater National Park  Original finder wanted to mine iron from .  About 3,000 years old.  1.186 km in diameter. Strings of Impact Craters

 So far only looked at single impact sites.  Due to recent evidence, believe that impacts occur in pairs or strings of multiple impacts.  Evidence from other sites and one on Earth. Moon String

 Found on side of Moon away from Earth by Apollo mission.  First clue came from Shoemaker-Levy 9 Impact. Shoemaker-Levy 9

 Saw asteroid falling toward Jupiter.  Asteroid broke apart.  Struck Jupiter in a sequence.  Spread across surface due to planet rotation. SL-9 Single Impact Callisto

 Moon of Jupiter  Found by space probe.  Multiple string of craters. Clearwater, Canada

 Impact pair in Northern Canada.  Filled with water that melted as glaciers receded during last ice age.  Most believed to have companion. Moon Creation

 Often wondered why Earth has such large moon when compared to moons of other planets.  Mars sized object struck Earth, material blown off became Moon. Hollywood

 Recent movies have increased public awareness.

 Armageddon

 Dinosaur Extinction Theory of Luis Alvarez and his son Walter. Dinosaur Killer

 Asteroid had mass of trillion tons.  Released energy equivalent to 5 billion atomic bombs.  Crater 250 km across.  Deep enough to penetrate thru crust. Dinosaur Killer

 Lifted 100 trillion tons of dust into air.  Shut off sunlight for several months.  Global acid rain.  Large-scale fires.

 Forests and grasslands. How Destructive Can It Be?

 Speed is critical.  Size of object is important.  Physical structure of object plays role.  Location of impact. Speed

 Each time speed doubles, damage quadruples.  50 mph = 50 joules  100 mph = ? joules  Answer = 200  Most travel at about 6 miles a second! Size Does Matter

 The more massive an object, the more energy it has in it.  Example:

 Tractor trailer moving at 50 mph will do a lot more damage than a bicycle moving at same speed. Size

 < 10 meters

 Don’t worry unless directly under it.  10 meters

 Rule of Thumb  Crater about 20 times bigger than rock

 10m x 20 = 200m crater

 Average speed. Size

 100 meters

 2 km crater

 Equals best craters from nuclear testing. Size

1000 meters

 20 km crater

 Secondary effects become global Water Strike

 1000 meter asteroid generates about 50 m tall wave.  Rule of Thumb

 Wave increases 40x when moves to shallows.  Becomes 2000 m (2km) in shallows. Cosmic Shooting Gallery

 What are the odds of impacts?  What can we do to save ourselves? Frequency

 Pea Size – 10/hour  Walnut Size – 1/hour  Grapefruit – 1/10 hrs  Basketball – 1/month  50m – 1/century  1km – 1/ 100,000 yrs  2km – 1/500,000 yrs Frequency

 Dinosaur type killer asteroids – 1/50 to 100 million years.  Last occurrence was 65 million years ago.  We are due! Next Century

 Planetary scientists estimate a 1/1,000 chance of major impact in this century.  Odds decrease by factor of 10 each century. Potential Threats?

 About 2,000 objects of 1 km diameter cross Earth orbit.  10,000 objects at 500 meters  30,000 objects at 100 meters  150 million at 10 meters What is Being Done?

 In order to do anything, must locate asteroids and . 

 University of Arizona  NEAT

 Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking Spacewatch Project

 Steward Observatory on Kitt Peak.  Robotic telescope photos sky.  Computer analyzes images for motion.  Alerts astronomers.  2,000 a month NEAT

 Sponsored by NASA and U.S. Air Force.  Telescope in Hawaii.  Also uses computers.  Has detected over 10,000 asteroids. The End? Location

 With current technology, it is probable that we could detect any threatening asteroid years in advance.  What can we do? Small Nudge

 The farther away the asteroid is, the less energy is needed to shift its path.  Changing the speed by 1 mph would be enough.

Path of an oncoming asteroid.

Earth Requires only a change of 1 degree in course!

1 Billion Miles Away

Earth Requires only a change of 10 degree in course!

500 Million Miles Away

Earth Requires only a change of 45 degree in course!

100 Million Miles Away

Earth Plan A

 Crash a rocket into the asteroid.

 Deflect its course just a tiny amount.  Probably only good for small ones.

 < 300 ft. wide Don Quixote

 European Space Agency is studying a design of a space mission to accomplish Plan A.  The first “real” asteroid deflection mission ever designed.  More on this later! Plan B

 Explode an atomic weapon near asteroid in space.  Heat one side causing material to explode away.  Newton’s Third Law of Motion takes effect. Plan C

 Build a rocket engine on one side of asteroid.  Rocket fires for several years.  Slowly changes course over long period of time. Problems

 All three plans have problems.  Do not have the technology yet.  Requires finding asteroid years in advance.  Asteroid breaks up! Future

 Is there hope?  Advances in technology.  Spacewatch and NEAT programs.  We need to get a permanent space base to aid in protection. Deep Impact 2005

 In the Summer of 2005, NASA accomplished the Deep Impact Mission.  Sent a probe to comet Temple 1.  Had a projectile that struck the comet while the mother satellite took photos. Stated Mission

 The stated mission for Deep Impact was to cause matter from the comet to be ejected into space.  Then NASA scientists would analyze the results to see what makes up comets.  Was there another mission? Other Mission?

 Maybe this was a test to see if they could hit a comet or asteroid.  If they are testing it, should we be worried?  Maybe , maybe not?  Do you think the government would tell us if it were coming? Apophis

 Apophis is an Ancient Egyptian spirit of evil and destruction, determined to plunge the world into total darkness.  Name of an asteroid that is of concern to astronomers. Apophis

 390m wide, discovered in June of 2004.  In December 2004, odds of impact were 1 in 37!  On April 13, 2029, this asteroid will pass pretty close to Earth.

 A Friday!

 22,600 miles from earth center.  Have ruled out a collision in that year due to increased tracking. Apophis

 Yet, as the asteroid passes Earth’s gravity, its course may be changed, leading to a possible impact in 2036.  The chances right now of Apophis hitting the right course for a collision after passing Earth in 2029 is 1 in 5,500. Look how close! Another World Map Related Books

 Hammer of God

 About stopping an asteroid.  Lucifer’s Hammer

 Life after an impact.