In 1994, human beings almost suffered a "disaster"? Who is secretly "protecting" the earth
There are many so-called "doomsday theories" on the Internet. These "doomsday theories" say that the earth may encounter various disasters in the future, and human civilization may disappear in those disasters. Will the earth really encounter various devastating disasters in the future? No one knows what will happen in the future, but from all angles, the solar system is still very dangerous, and one of the threats is the threat of various small celestial bodies. A giant comet is coming?
C/2014 UN271 is the largest comet ever discovered by human beings. Scientists have found that this huge comet is flying towards the inner part of the solar system. Although we have discovered many comets before, and many comets are flying towards the sun, this comet C/2014 UN271 is particularly interesting because it is so big. Such a large comet is flying towards the interior of the solar system, will it hit the earth? Most of the comets known so far are relatively small, and the nucleus of most comets may be only a few kilometers or even smaller, while the nucleus of Comet C/2014 UN271 has a diameter of 136.8 kilometers, and its mass may be as high as 500 trillion tons . You must know that the asteroid that hit the earth 65 million years ago and caused the mass extinction event was only about 10 kilometers in diameter. If a comet with a diameter of hundreds of kilometers hit the earth, the consequences would be devastating. In October 2014, scientists discovered this huge comet for the first time. At that time, it was still very far away from us, about 29 astronomical units from the sun, or about 4.3 billion kilometers, which is roughly equivalent to Neptune and The distance between the suns is the farthest comet ever discovered by our human beings. It is flying at a speed of 35,405 kilometers per hour, which is quite fast. After several years of flying, the comet is getting closer and closer to the sun. In 2021, scientists found that it is only 19 astronomical units away from the sun, or about 2.8 billion kilometers. But we don't need to worry, because the comet will not be infinitely close to the earth and infinitely close to the sun. According to the data held by scientists, it is expected that in April 2031, the comet's perihelion will reach more than 1.6 billion kilometers, that is, the closest distance to the sun is more than 1.6 billion kilometers, which is farther than the average distance between Saturn and the sun. Therefore, in the absence of accidents, this comet will not pose any threat to our earth. Danger lies behind?
In the solar system, there are many large and small asteroids, comets and other small celestial bodies. Most of the asteroids and comets are concentrated in the asteroid belt or the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud. After billions of years, the operation of these small celestial bodies has basically stabilized, and few asteroids, comets, Kuiper belts, or Oort clouds have come to collide with the Earth or collide with other planets. However, if these asteroids are disturbed by strong gravity, they may be flung into the solar system, increasing the risk of colliding with Earth and Mars. Gliese 710 is a red dwarf star about 63 light-years away from Earth. Scientists found that the red dwarf star is approaching in the direction of Earth. According to the data scientists have, the star may come to the vicinity of the solar system within 1.4 million years, and the distance from Earth is about 1.1 light-years away, or 70,000 astronomical units. Although this star will not directly collide with the sun or the earth, due to its large mass, the strong gravitational force will perturb the Oort cloud and throw a large number of comets and asteroids into the inner solar system, thereby increasing the number of asteroids and comets. Risk of collision with Earth. Who is protecting the earth in secret
At the beginning of the solar system, the entire space environment was still very chaotic, with various asteroids and comets Drifting everywhere, collisions with the Earth, collisions with Mars, and collisions with the sun often occur. Later, with the passage of time, many small celestial bodies have been attracted by the strong gravitational force of major planets, and some small celestial bodies have been "thrown" to the outer solar system. After billions of years of "purification", the solar system has a relatively clean environment, and asteroids and comets rarely collide with the earth. Even so, the solar system is not completely safe, because there are still some "fish slipping through the net" floating around, which may collide with large planets. In 1994, an impressive thing happened in the solar system, that is, the comet "Shoemaker-Levy 9" collided with Jupiter, which was the first celestial collision event in the solar system observed by humans. In the 1980s and 1990s, the comet "Shoemaker-Levy 9" broke into the solar system. According to the data held by scientists, the comet's ultimate destiny is to fall to the sun. For the sun, this comet It is so small that if it falls into the sun, it will have no effect on the sun at all. But on its way to the sun, the comet was captured by Jupiter's powerful gravity as it came near Jupiter. In 1992, the closest distance between Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter was only 110,000 kilometers. The strong tidal force directly "torn" the comet into 21 pieces, which continued to orbit Jupiter. Flying for 2 years. On July 17, 1994, 21 fragments of the comet slammed into Jupiter one after another, and the energy released by the impact exploded with the equivalent of 40 trillion tons of TNT. The energy released by the largest piece of debris when it hit Jupiter reached 6 trillion tons of TNT explosive, which is about 750 times the total nuclear weapons stockpile in the world. The "scar" formed on the surface of Jupiter is larger than that of the earth. At that time, many people believed that if Jupiter hadn't "stepped up" to bear the "fatal" impact of the comet, there might be no human beings on the earth, thinking that Jupiter was quietly protecting us and protecting the earth. However, judging from the comet's flight orbit, the comet will not come near the earth, let alone hit the earth. Therefore, the comet itself poses no threat to the Earth. However, it is undeniable that there are celestial bodies such as Jupiter and the moon in the solar system, which can actually block many small celestial bodies and create a good cosmic space environment for the earth to nurture life.