Melbourne, How does the Earth prevent meteors from hitting the Earth and hurting people?
-Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales
Okay, let's begin a meteor adventure! Meteorites may look scary but I promise you they are not. Meteorites are cosmic rocks falling into the Earth's atmosphere from outer space. Now, these aren't just any old boring rocks. We're talking about fragments of asteroids, comets, and even fragments of other planets hitting Earth.
There are certain times of the year when we experience something called meteor showers.Imagine that the Earth is moving in its normal orbit around Su when suddenly it passes through a piece of rock left over from a comet or asteroid.
As comets and asteroids get closer to the Sun, they shed bits and pieces during their journey. When Earth passes through this trail of space debris, meteors shine in the sky like shooting stars.
Meteorites have been observed by humans throughout history and have even been described by bees as nature's fireworks. Scientists estimate that more than 17,000 meteorites fall to Earth every year.So, why don't they hurt us?
Why don't meteors fall on us all the time?
When meteors light up the sky, we actually see our planet's remarkable defense systems come into action.
When a meteor enters the Earth's atmosphere – the layer of air that surrounds us – it faces resistance from air molecules. This is called friction, and it causes the meteor to heat up faster.
Remember, a meteor is a piece of rock. The friction heats the rock so much that it burns and turns into vapor (like steam).This is what creates the bright line of the "shooting star".
Our atmosphere is so good at destroying meteorites that about 90-95% of them don't even reach the ground.
What will happen if a meteorite passes through the atmosphere?
Now you may be wondering – what about the 5-10% of meteors that survive the atmosphere? Well, if they survive, they become "meteoroids."
The good news is that most of the time, meteorites fall either into the ocean or away from humans. There are only two records in the history of all humans, of someone being hit by a meteorite.There is a one in 700,000 chance that a meteorite will harm you. In comparison, you have a 1 in 15,300 chance of being struck by lightning.
The bad news is that meteorites have caused some damage in the past – just look at dinosaurs. But this only happens if a meteor is really very big and does not burn up completely in the atmosphere. The probability of such a space rock hitting Earth is very small, but never zero.So how do we stop them?
Unlike the dinosaurs, we now have large telescopes keeping an eye on the sky all the time. Astronomers keep an eye on any large asteroids or comets that could potentially harm Earth.
The amazing thing is that with our 21st century technology, we don't have to depend only on the Earth's atmosphere for our safety, we can also protect ourselves.
It's not expected that we will be in any major danger from meteorites in the next 100 years, but that hasn't stopped us from planning.
One idea is that we could redirect a dangerous asteroid in the future.NASA has already shown the world that it can be done. In 2022, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, successfully demonstrated that humans could deflect an asteroid – by crashing a spacecraft into the extra rock, it would gradually change its direction of motion.(talk) AMS
-Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales
Okay, let's begin a meteor adventure! Meteorites may look scary but I promise you they are not. Meteorites are cosmic rocks falling into the Earth's atmosphere from outer space. Now, these aren't just any old boring rocks. We're talking about fragments of asteroids, comets, and even fragments of other planets hitting Earth.
There are certain times of the year when we experience something called meteor showers.Imagine that the Earth is moving in its normal orbit around Su when suddenly it passes through a piece of rock left over from a comet or asteroid.
As comets and asteroids get closer to the Sun, they shed bits and pieces during their journey. When Earth passes through this trail of space debris, meteors shine in the sky like shooting stars.
Meteorites have been observed by humans throughout history and have even been described by bees as nature's fireworks. Scientists estimate that more than 17,000 meteorites fall to Earth every year.So, why don't they hurt us?
Why don't meteors fall on us all the time?
When meteors light up the sky, we actually see our planet's remarkable defense systems come into action.
When a meteor enters the Earth's atmosphere – the layer of air that surrounds us – it faces resistance from air molecules. This is called friction, and it causes the meteor to heat up faster.
Remember, a meteor is a piece of rock. The friction heats the rock so much that it burns and turns into vapor (like steam).This is what creates the bright line of the "shooting star".
Our atmosphere is so good at destroying meteorites that about 90-95% of them don't even reach the ground.
What will happen if a meteorite passes through the atmosphere?
Now you may be wondering – what about the 5-10% of meteors that survive the atmosphere? Well, if they survive, they become "meteoroids."
The good news is that most of the time, meteorites fall either into the ocean or away from humans. There are only two records in the history of all humans, of someone being hit by a meteorite.There is a one in 700,000 chance that a meteorite will harm you. In comparison, you have a 1 in 15,300 chance of being struck by lightning.
The bad news is that meteorites have caused some damage in the past – just look at dinosaurs. But this only happens if a meteor is really very big and does not burn up completely in the atmosphere. The probability of such a space rock hitting Earth is very small, but never zero.So how do we stop them?
Unlike the dinosaurs, we now have large telescopes keeping an eye on the sky all the time. Astronomers keep an eye on any large asteroids or comets that could potentially harm Earth.
The amazing thing is that with our 21st century technology, we don't have to depend only on the Earth's atmosphere for our safety, we can also protect ourselves.
It's not expected that we will be in any major danger from meteorites in the next 100 years, but that hasn't stopped us from planning.
One idea is that we could redirect a dangerous asteroid in the future.NASA has already shown the world that it can be done. In 2022, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, successfully demonstrated that humans could deflect an asteroid – by crashing a spacecraft into the extra rock, it would gradually change its direction of motion.(talk) AMS