The object that produced such damage, a thousand times more devastating than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, probably had to have a diameter of "just" a few dozen meters. But what can be said about the bodies with much greater dimensions that might strike the Earth? We should remember the event that very likely, 65 million years ago, led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. At that time, astronomers calculate that a huge asteroid smashed into that section of the sea that today extends between the peninsula of the Yucatan, in Mexico and Florida. The impact probably scattered microscopic particles of dust and water vapor throughout the atmosphere. This obscured the light from the Sun for years, and generated a "never-ending winter": rigid temperatures and no light probably destroyed almost all vegetable life causing the death by hunger of all the species that fed on plants, thus eliminating any chance for survival by the gigantic dinosaurs - both herbivores and carnivores alike. Could this happen again? Yes, point out the astronomers. In fact, not very many people know that there are between 1 000 and 4 000 asteroids with a diameter of at least one kilometer that cross our orbit on what is a more or less regular basis. Any one of these asteroids could cause a disaster like what happened 65 million years ago. This would destroy our civilization, and in the best possible situation, revert man back to the stone age. But we know of the existence of just 150 of these wandering bodies. But all the others? They could fall on us at any time without any notice. For this reason, the international astronomical community has developed a program called Spacewatch that involves observatories all over the world. Their objective: to systematically scan the sky to identify and locate all potentially dangerous objects. This is the only way, when evaluating a possible impact, that a nuclear missile could be sent to intercept the asteroid and push it just enough to miss the Earth.
The object that produced such damage, a thousand times more devastating than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, probably had to have a diameter of "just" a few dozen meters. But what can be said about the bodies with much greater dimensions that might strike the Earth? We should remember the event that very likely, 65 million years ago, led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. At that time, astronomers calculate that a huge asteroid smashed into that section of the sea that today extends between the peninsula of the Yucatan, in Mexico and Florida. The impact probably scattered microscopic particles of dust and water vapor throughout the atmosphere. This obscured the light from the Sun for years, and generated a "never-ending winter": rigid temperatures and no light probably destroyed almost all vegetable life causing the death by hunger of all the species that fed on plants, thus eliminating any chance for survival by the gigantic dinosaurs - both herbivores and carnivores alike. Could this happen again? Yes, point out the astronomers. In fact, not very many people know that there are between 1 000 and 4 000 asteroids with a diameter of at least one kilometer that cross our orbit on what is a more or less regular basis. Any one of these asteroids could cause a disaster like what happened 65 million years ago. This would destroy our civilization, and in the best possible situation, revert man back to the stone age. But we know of the existence of just 150 of these wandering bodies. But all the others? They could fall on us at any time without any notice. For this reason, the international astronomical community has developed a program called Spacewatch that involves observatories all over the world. Their objective: to systematically scan the sky to identify and locate all potentially dangerous objects. This is the only way, when evaluating a possible impact, that a nuclear missile could be sent to intercept the asteroid and push it just enough to miss the Earth.
