The asteroid Dimorphos imaged by NASA during the DART mission conducted in 2022.
Image credit: Handout / NASA / Jons Hopkins APL / AFP
An asteroid about 50 meters in diameter, traveling on a path that could cause it to collide with Earth on Valentine’s Day in 2046. Astronomers estimate that the celestial body, called “2023 Dw”, would have a 1.584 chance of landing on our planet. What will be the consequences of this influence?
“This is called a ‘city killer’, ie City killerexplains Marie-Ange Sangui, editor-in-chief of the magazine Space and exploration. She specifies: “It’s basically a city, an area that will be destroyed by its impact. By the time we detect it and its arrival, we’ll have time to implement backup systems, among other things. Evacuate the entire area where it’s supposed to arrive.”
potentially making it less certain High probability of being affected by the sea or ocean. Recent examples of asteroid collisions, albeit smaller in size, give us an idea of the consequences.
The meteorite that reached Russia, in Chelyabinsk, Caused a lot of damage. For example, it broke windows and, depending on where it fell, could kill people. Mais ça ne va pas faire des massive destructions” explique Marie-Ange Sanguy. Elle conclut: “Plus ils sont petits, moins ça va pas faire des massives destructions, et plus ils auront tendance à se consumer dans l’atmosphère terrestre avant d’arriver On the ground.”
