Need scientific backup for comet impact story I'm writing.

Hi everyone. I'm writing a story about a comet hitting the Earth.
What I need to happen is a comet will hit the Earth and cause some
serious localized damage but not end the world as we know it. What I
need to know is:

Is this even scientifically possible? I ask because from what I've
already read some say that even a very small object could end all life
on Earth.

What size would this comet have to be to hit the Earth and not kill
everyone? The size of a car? A house? An office building?

Are there any circumstances that would make survival more likely? For
example, if the comet hit the North Pole or somewhere with very deep
snow? Would this make any difference at all in the outcome? Would
deep snow or ice dampen the amount of debris flung up into the
atmosphere? What if it hit an inland lake or a swamp?

This is going to be a work of fiction but I'd like to make it as close
to real as possible. I'm one of those nitpicky people who likes
details like that. If anyone has any input on this I'd love to hear
it! Thanks!


-Charles

Dear Chaz:

"Chaz" wrote in message
ups.com...
....
Is this even scientifically possible? I ask because from
what I've already read some say that even a very small
object could end all life on Earth.

Some people still can't figure out why Armageddon has not claimed
us all.

What size would this comet have to be to hit the Earth
and not kill everyone? The size of a car? A house?
An office building?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event
60 to 1200 meters in size, if it was a meteor.

Are there any circumstances that would make survival
more likely? For example, if the comet hit the North
Pole or somewhere with very deep snow? Would this
make any difference at all in the outcome? Would
deep snow or ice dampen the amount of debris flung
up into the atmosphere? What if it hit an inland lake
or a swamp?

The impactors that destroyed life on Earth in the past, carried
their own signatures with them. It probably will not matter
where it hits. An ocean strike will have immediate tsunami
effects. But a strike most anywhere will trigger earthquakes,
which could do much the same thing.

This is going to be a work of fiction but I'd like to
make it as close to real as possible. I'm one of
those nitpicky people who likes details like that.

Forgive yourself for less than stellar work now, so that you have
a hope of finishing before 2036.

Better still, what happens if the Earth is struck by 10 or 20
years of mana falling form the heavens... and we become dependent
on it... and it stops.

David A. Smith

Hi everyone. I'm writing a story about a comet hitting the Earth.
What I need to happen is a comet will hit the Earth and cause some
serious localized damage but not end the world as we know it. What I
need to know is:

Is this even scientifically possible? I ask because from what I've
already read some say that even a very small object could end all life
on Earth.

What size would this comet have to be to hit the Earth and not kill
everyone? The size of a car? A house? An office building?

Are there any circumstances that would make survival more likely? For
example, if the comet hit the North Pole or somewhere with very deep
snow? Would this make any difference at all in the outcome? Would
deep snow or ice dampen the amount of debris flung up into the
atmosphere? What if it hit an inland lake or a swamp?

This is going to be a work of fiction but I'd like to make it as close
to real as possible. I'm one of those nitpicky people who likes
details like that. If anyone has any input on this I'd love to hear
it! Thanks!

-Charles

2 scenarios: It hits ocean, and giant waves destroy all coasts.
Such happened with a giant meteor breaking and plumetting
into Jupiter. They found huge and rapid waves moving on Jupiter
afterwards, suggesting that Jupiter has 10 times more water
than previously thought. The other phenomena is the Moon's
craters, Earth is heavier than the Moon, so the craters would
be smaller.

I don't believe a meteorite wiped out dinosaurs. I think that
gravity was different in the past, lighter and dinos grew, but
when the heavy gravity returned in the dark matter fields
that vary and cause this, dinos became inable to cope with
the heavy gravity with their weak bones and died out.

Actually the effect of dark matter may be experienced
as a lighter place where the Sun speeds up. It makes
sense that a heading is altered by gravitational changes.
It is how dark matter relating to spiral galaxies only can
be explained.

A crater must be destroyed. Earth elected as president.

"Chaz" wrote in message
ups.com...
: Hi everyone. I'm writing a story about a comet hitting the Earth.
: What I need to happen is a comet will hit the Earth and cause some
: serious localized damage but not end the world as we know it. What I
: need to know is:
:
: Is this even scientifically possible? I ask because from what I've
: already read some say that even a very small object could end all life
: on Earth.
:
: What size would this comet have to be to hit the Earth and not kill
: everyone? The size of a car? A house? An office building?
:
: Are there any circumstances that would make survival more likely? For
: example, if the comet hit the North Pole or somewhere with very deep
: snow? Would this make any difference at all in the outcome? Would
: deep snow or ice dampen the amount of debris flung up into the
: atmosphere? What if it hit an inland lake or a swamp?
:
: This is going to be a work of fiction but I'd like to make it as close
: to real as possible. I'm one of those nitpicky people who likes
: details like that. If anyone has any input on this I'd love to hear
: it! Thanks!
:

Since it is fiction you can do whatever you want with it, you are a
young teenager who will never complete it anyway.

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 01:48:10 +0000, Chaz wrote:

Hi everyone. I'm writing a story about a comet hitting the Earth. What
I need to happen is a comet will hit the Earth and cause some serious
localized damage but not end the world as we know it. What I need to
know is:

Is this even scientifically possible? I ask because from what I've
already read some say that even a very small object could end all life
on Earth.

Overall effect would depend both on the size and the site of impact.
Comets are not solid bodies and it is likely to break up into smaller
pieces, so multiple smaller impact is the most likely event. Remember
Shoemaker-Levy impact on Jupiter ?

What size would this comet have to be to hit the Earth and not kill
everyone? The size of a car? A house? An office building?

To kill every human being it has to be some kilometers wide. To kill every
living thing on the earth it would have to be several tens of kilometer,
may be even hundreds of kilometers wide. Biosphere extends to several
kilometers down the earth's crust. Vent organisms in deep oceanic
spreading ridges are least likely to be affected.

Are there any circumstances that would make survival more likely? For
example, if the comet hit the North Pole or somewhere with very deep
snow? Would this make any difference at all in the outcome? Would deep
snow or ice dampen the amount of debris flung up into the atmosphere?
What if it hit an inland lake or a swamp?

Hitting Arctic or Antarctic icesheets will release lots of mel****er. That
would cause flood, rise of sea level, etc., thus causing more after effect
than hitting ocean or land. Hitting ocean will of course cause a great
tsunami.

This is going to be a work of fiction but I'd like to make it as close
to real as possible. I'm one of those nitpicky people who likes details
like that. If anyone has any input on this I'd love to hear it! Thanks!

Nobody has any previous experience of such an event. So basically anything
goes.


--
gautam

Wow. Thanks to everyone for your responses! I got some good stuff to
go on here. I think the Tunguska event may be close to what I'm
looking for.

Androcles, I can't figure out why you assumed I'm a teenager, I'm 32,
but thanks for the encouragement.

If anyone has any other ideas please respond. Thanks!

"Chaz" wrote in message
ups.com...
: Wow. Thanks to everyone for your responses! I got some good stuff to
: go on here. I think the Tunguska event may be close to what I'm
: looking for.
:
: Androcles, I can't figure out why you assumed I'm a teenager, I'm 32,
: but thanks for the encouragement.
:
: If anyone has any other ideas please respond. Thanks!

Sheesh... at 32 I was way too busy designing electronics and making
money to be thinking about writing novels, but good luck to you.
There have been several low quality movies and TV dramas made
based on the idea...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043456/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116629/

"Chaz" ha scritto nel messaggio
ups.com...
Hi everyone. I'm writing a story about a comet hitting the Earth.
What I need to happen is a comet will hit the Earth and cause some
serious localized damage but not end the world as we know it. What I
need to know is:

Is this even scientifically possible?

A comet it's not a snowball but now we are seeing
that it's more similar at an asteroid with volatile substances.
An object that has a 1 Km in diameter certainly can destroy a
continent and if fall in the sea it do a megatsunami.

I ask because from what I've already read some say that
even a very small object could end all life on Earth.

You must reminder that an asteroid of 50 Km of diameter
can sterilize all the Earth (meeting Tunguska 96 in Bologna, Italy).
An object between 50 and 10 Km can to destroy
between 75 to 99% of life on the Earth.

What size would this comet have to be to hit the Earth and not kill
everyone? The size of a car? A house? An office building?

Not kill everyone?
If the object it's around 50 meter in diameter can to do
damages without deads, this occured in the past, but now
with peoples in all countries it's near impossible.
Similar events occured in Tunguska river June 30 1908,
Rio (river) Curuça August 13 1930, Marudi Montains
December 13 1935.
Tunguska event not kill everyone but if it fall today a similar object
in a city as New York, Mexico or other we can count until
10 milion of deads, certainly some milions.

Are there any circumstances that would make survival more likely? For
example, if the comet hit the North Pole or somewhere with very deep
snow? Would this make any difference at all in the outcome? Would
deep snow or ice dampen the amount of debris flung up into the
atmosphere? What if it hit an inland lake or a swamp?

The best place for ground zero it's perharps a big desert, one of
the australian deserts? The Sahara in its center, Gobi too, one of the big
islands in the Northern Canada.
Certainly not in the seas and in the sismic and vulcanic areas.

This is going to be a work of fiction but I'd like to make it as close
to real as possible. I'm one of those nitpicky people who likes
details like that. If anyone has any input on this I'd love to hear
it! Thanks!


-Charles

Best greetings.
Sao 67174

Chaz wrote:
Hi everyone. I'm writing a story about a comet hitting the Earth.

If you put "impact effects calculator" into a search engine, you will
get some very useful links. One I like is http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/
, but others may be as good or better for your purpose.

As others have indicated, you may prefer meteoroid rather than comet,
depending on what your story requires. Let us know when the story is
published.

More good stuff here. Especially the impact effects calc.

The stroy requires a comet for a major plot point. If it were simply
"big thing hits Earth" I would go with the meteoroid but part of the
backstory necessitates a comet. Many thanks to everyone and if I
actually get this published I will return to this thread and let you
know about it! Thanks again!


-Charles