Asteriod Question

I'm a screenwriter and I have a question:

If a big enough asteroid hit Jupiter and a piece of Jupiter broke off, could
it become a rogue asteroid and head for Earth? (I've heard that Jupiter's
many moons were once actually part of Jupiter that broke off.)

If not, what type of situation can be proposed that would produce a
threatening rogue asteroid?

--
From the Desk of Lise Eleanor
http://www3.sympatico.ca/l_e/

Lise Eleanor wrote:

I'm a screenwriter and I have a question:

If a big enough asteroid hit Jupiter and a piece of Jupiter broke off, could
it become a rogue asteroid and head for Earth? (I've heard that Jupiter's
many moons were once actually part of Jupiter that broke off.)

If not, what type of situation can be proposed that would produce a
threatening rogue asteroid?

No, Jupiter is huge and largely gaseous, so even if the largest asteroid hit
it, Jupiter would more than likely swallow the darn thing whole (might raise a
nice plume of gas, but no "rogue" asteroid"). There are lots of asteroids in
orbits that come near to or cross the orbit of the Earth, and minor
perturbations by the planets over long periods of time or a collision with
another asteroid might push it into an Earth-impact trajectory. Clear skies
to you.

--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

Lise Eleanor wrote:

I'm a screenwriter and I have a question:

If a big enough asteroid hit Jupiter and a piece of Jupiter broke off, could
it become a rogue asteroid and head for Earth? (I've heard that Jupiter's
many moons were once actually part of Jupiter that broke off.)

Jupiter is gas planet. In the unlikely event an asteroid strike produces
something out of Jupiter, this something will be a puff of gas.

If not, what type of situation can be proposed that would produce a
threatening rogue asteroid?

Take a look he

http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/seds/cha...t/science.html

Look under "Origins".

Regards,

- Alex

Thank you David.

What would be the most likely origin of a rogue asteroid?

I'm only asking because if you or one of your astronomer buddies goes to see
this movie, I need you to walk out after saying, "Damn, that was bang on
info!"

Though I don't get much into the meteor/asteroid itself, if I could build an
element into the script that is "plausible theory" about a rogue asteroid,
then it is believeable.

I already have all the specs as to the damage report after collision of a
10km diameter projectile with Earth.

--
From the Desk of Lise Eleanor
http://www3.sympatico.ca/l_e/
"David Knisely" wrote in message
...
Lise Eleanor wrote:

I'm a screenwriter and I have a question:

If a big enough asteroid hit Jupiter and a piece of Jupiter broke off,
could
it become a rogue asteroid and head for Earth? (I've heard that
Jupiter's
many moons were once actually part of Jupiter that broke off.)

If not, what type of situation can be proposed that would produce a
threatening rogue asteroid?

No, Jupiter is huge and largely gaseous, so even if the largest asteroid
hit
it, Jupiter would more than likely swallow the darn thing whole (might
raise a
nice plume of gas, but no "rogue" asteroid"). There are lots of asteroids
in
orbits that come near to or cross the orbit of the Earth, and minor
perturbations by the planets over long periods of time or a collision with
another asteroid might push it into an Earth-impact trajectory. Clear
skies
to you.

--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

Thanks, Alex.

A little techy dense, but I get the drift (hehe).

I'm going to go through this more closely and come back with a question or
two. I like this:

"These objects are often asteroids in transition from the asteroid belt
(where they may have been knocked out by a collision or by a gravitational
resonance with Jupiter) to the inner solar system (Apollos and Atens)."

How does this relate to the "puff of gas" result?

I'm only asking because, this fits perfectly with what I'm trying to
accomplish with the opening sequence in the script.

Originally I said an asteroid collides with Jupiter and a piece of Jupiter
breaks off and becomes the rogue asteroid heading for Earth. But, it seems
that it is actually an asteroid that would hit Jupiter and BOUNCE OFF
JUPITER and on into space.

Am I understanding this correctly?

And, if I am understanding, could this asteroid hit earth if on the right
trajectory?

--
From the Desk of Lise Eleanor
http://www3.sympatico.ca/l_e/
"Alexander Avtanski" wrote in message
...

Lise Eleanor wrote:

I'm a screenwriter and I have a question:

If a big enough asteroid hit Jupiter and a piece of Jupiter broke off,
could
it become a rogue asteroid and head for Earth? (I've heard that
Jupiter's
many moons were once actually part of Jupiter that broke off.)

Jupiter is gas planet. In the unlikely event an asteroid strike produces
something out of Jupiter, this something will be a puff of gas.

If not, what type of situation can be proposed that would produce a
threatening rogue asteroid?

Take a look he

http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/seds/cha...t/science.html

Look under "Origins".

Regards,

- Alex

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 18:21:51 -0400, Lise Eleanor wrote:
Originally I said an asteroid collides with Jupiter and a piece of Jupiter
breaks off and becomes the rogue asteroid heading for Earth. But, it seems
that it is actually an asteroid that would hit Jupiter and BOUNCE OFF
JUPITER and on into space.

Am I understanding this correctly?

No, the text meant a collision with another asteroid OR gravitational
influence by Jupiter. Not a collision with Jupiter. An asteroid can simply
approach Jupiter (without impacting into it) and Jupiter's massive gravity
can significantly alter its orbit. This means that an otherwise "safe"
asteroid, whose orbit didn't intersect Earth's can become a hazard in its
new orbit.

Either way, I'm sure that whatever hit Jupiter would simply be absorbed by
it, producing nothing more than a "puff of gas", most of which would also
fall back to Jupiter.

And, if I am understanding, could this asteroid hit earth if on the right
trajectory?

Yes, if the conditions were right and the asteroid orbit crossed the
Earth's.
Mind you, it would probably take a *long* time after the collision or
Jupiter encounter before if would hit us...

--
The butler did it.

Hi Ugo

Thanks for your input.

Okay, would this work if I wrote it into my script (this is the very opening
scene):

EXT. DEEP SPACE - NIGHT

A flaming asteroid knifes through blackness, Jupiter looming in its path. It
strikes an invisble barrier around Jupiter's surface and skitters off on a
new collision course.

FADE TO BLACK

.....

??

Or, would it be INNER SPACE? OUTER SPACE?

As the asteroid approaches Earth, I call it just SPACE.

*grin*

You can't see me right now, but I AM laughing at myself. I don't blame you
if you think this sounds silly. I just want to be sure it's correct.
--
From the Desk of Lise Eleanor
http://www3.sympatico.ca/l_e/
"Ugo" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 18:21:51 -0400, Lise Eleanor wrote:
Originally I said an asteroid collides with Jupiter and a piece of
Jupiter
breaks off and becomes the rogue asteroid heading for Earth. But, it
seems
that it is actually an asteroid that would hit Jupiter and BOUNCE OFF
JUPITER and on into space.

Am I understanding this correctly?

No, the text meant a collision with another asteroid OR gravitational
influence by Jupiter. Not a collision with Jupiter. An asteroid can simply
approach Jupiter (without impacting into it) and Jupiter's massive gravity
can significantly alter its orbit. This means that an otherwise "safe"
asteroid, whose orbit didn't intersect Earth's can become a hazard in its
new orbit.

Either way, I'm sure that whatever hit Jupiter would simply be absorbed by
it, producing nothing more than a "puff of gas", most of which would also
fall back to Jupiter.

And, if I am understanding, could this asteroid hit earth if on the
right
trajectory?

Yes, if the conditions were right and the asteroid orbit crossed the
Earth's.
Mind you, it would probably take a *long* time after the collision or
Jupiter encounter before if would hit us...

--
The butler did it.

"Lise Eleanor" wrote in message
. ..
Hi Ugo

Thanks for your input.

Okay, would this work if I wrote it into my script (this is the very
opening
scene):

EXT. DEEP SPACE - NIGHT

A flaming asteroid knifes through blackness, Jupiter looming in its path.
It
strikes an invisble barrier around Jupiter's surface and skitters off on a
new collision course.

1: Asteroids don't flame. You *could* have the asteroid pass close to
Jupiters cloudtops, and have it's orbit changed. If you recall the movie
2010, they used atmospheric braking to slow down the spaceship and put it
into orbit around Jupiter. This would give you a trailing cloud, and Ok, if
it was going fast enough, the orbit would be altered.

There is no invisible barrier around Jupiter, unless you want to count the
outer atmosphere.





FADE TO BLACK

....

??

Or, would it be INNER SPACE? OUTER SPACE?

As the asteroid approaches Earth, I call it just SPACE.


*grin*

You can't see me right now, but I AM laughing at myself. I don't blame you
if you think this sounds silly. I just want to be sure it's correct.
--
From the Desk of Lise Eleanor
http://www3.sympatico.ca/l_e/
"Ugo" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 18:21:51 -0400, Lise Eleanor wrote:
Originally I said an asteroid collides with Jupiter and a piece of
Jupiter
breaks off and becomes the rogue asteroid heading for Earth. But, it
seems
that it is actually an asteroid that would hit Jupiter and BOUNCE OFF
JUPITER and on into space.

Am I understanding this correctly?

No, the text meant a collision with another asteroid OR gravitational
influence by Jupiter. Not a collision with Jupiter. An asteroid can
simply
approach Jupiter (without impacting into it) and Jupiter's massive
gravity
can significantly alter its orbit. This means that an otherwise "safe"
asteroid, whose orbit didn't intersect Earth's can become a hazard in its
new orbit.

Either way, I'm sure that whatever hit Jupiter would simply be absorbed
by
it, producing nothing more than a "puff of gas", most of which would also
fall back to Jupiter.

And, if I am understanding, could this asteroid hit earth if on the
right
trajectory?

Yes, if the conditions were right and the asteroid orbit crossed the
Earth's.
Mind you, it would probably take a *long* time after the collision or
Jupiter encounter before if would hit us...

--
The butler did it.

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 17:09:43 -0400, "Lise Eleanor"
wrote:
I'm a screenwriter and I have a question:
If a big enough asteroid hit Jupiter and a piece of Jupiter broke off, could
it become a rogue asteroid and head for Earth? (I've heard that Jupiter's
many moons were once actually part of Jupiter that broke off.)
If not, what type of situation can be proposed that would produce a
threatening rogue asteroid?
**************************************
The largest asteroid is, I believe, under 500 miles.
Many are the size of some mountains.
The size of houses.
The vast majority are probably smaller.
If the above is fairly accurate, the asteroid in question would have
to be travelling at a ferocious rate to have any chance to inflict any
damage upon Jupiter.
HOWEVER, then consider the size of Jupiter.
Consider that much of that is not solid --- it a an atmosphere.
A very large atmosphere.
An atmosphere that would have a very good chance of demolishing any
asteroid.
Your best bet might be to consider something from the Oort Cloud being
disturbed in some fashion (( collision?? )) and coming into the inner
System. It would have started on that journey quite some time ago.
IF you are interested, you might take a look at a SF-book called
Lucifer's Hammer by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven.
Good luck.
---Mac

Hi Lise,

Lise Eleanor wrote:

Thanks, Alex.

A little techy dense, but I get the drift (hehe).

I'm going to go through this more closely and come back with a question or
two. I like this:

"These objects are often asteroids in transition from the asteroid belt
(where they may have been knocked out by a collision or by a gravitational
resonance with Jupiter) to the inner solar system (Apollos and Atens)."

How does this relate to the "puff of gas" result?

Here they refer not to the asteroid actually hitting Jupiter, but being
influenced by Jupiter's gravitation. When they say "collision" in the
text above they mean collision between two asteroids - in this case
pieces may fly in all directions, including on a collision course with
Earth.

I'm only asking because, this fits perfectly with what I'm trying to
accomplish with the opening sequence in the script.

Originally I said an asteroid collides with Jupiter and a piece of Jupiter
breaks off and becomes the rogue asteroid heading for Earth. But, it seems
that it is actually an asteroid that would hit Jupiter and BOUNCE OFF
JUPITER and on into space.

Bouncing off is unlikely. Most likely it will have the same effect on
Jupiter as a fly on a trailer truck going at 70 mph.

Am I understanding this correctly?

And, if I am understanding, could this asteroid hit earth if on the right
trajectory?

A more plausible scenario would be an asteroid passing close to Jupiter
that is being deflected by the tug of Jupiter's gravitation to a new
orbit. On this new orbit, the asteroid may happen to hit the Earth.
Unlikely, but not impossible.

If we keep with the fly analogy, imagine you (the Earth) sitting close
to the road when the truck passes by. A poor fly gets caught in the
truck's wake, gets disoriented, swerves from her planned "safe" route,
and hits you squarely between the eyes, :-)

Now, how the asteroid gets so close to Jupiter in first place is another
matter. There are several scenarios I can come up with, but I'm not
very sure they are very good, so let see what the other members of the
group will have to say.

Regards,

- Alex