What would happen if the Moon was hit by an asteroid?

The Moon is very big, and any small object hitting it would have very little effect on its motion around the Earth, because the Moon's own momentum would overwhelm that of the impact. Most asteroid collisions would result in large craters and little else; even the largest asteroid known, Ceres, wouldn't budge the Moon.

How big of an asteroid would destroy the Moon?

[What Would Earth Be Like If the Moon Had Never Formed?] If the 400-meter-wide asteroid were to impact the moon, it would kick up enough dust — and that dust would moving at a high enough speed — for a small quantity to escape the moon's gravity and coast all the way to Earth, 240,000 miles away, Yeomans said.

What would happen if an asteroid the size of the Moon hit Earth?

By an impact of such magnitude earth's tilt as well as orbit would be displaced causing dramatic changes in temperature, guaranteed to make earth unhabitable for life as we know it. This however would not be the culprit that would annihilate you, it would be cause by the scattering of the planetesimal's rock.

Can we live without the Moon?

If the Moon were to one day simply disappear, there would be some disastrous consequences that would have an irreversible effect upon life on Earth.

What would happen if the Moon got hit?

If the moon exploded, the night sky would change. We would see more stars in the sky, but we would also see more meteors and experience more meteorites. The position of the Earth in space would change and temperatures and seasons would dramatically alter, and our ocean tides would be much weaker.

What If Halley's Comet Crashed Into the Moon?

What if Earth had two moons?

If Earth had two moons, it would be catastrophic. An extra moon would lead to larger tides and wipe out major cities like New York and Singapore. The extra pull of the moons would also slow down the Earth's rotation, causing the day to get longer.

What if Earth had rings?

At the equator, the rings would appear to divide the sun, casting a dramatic shadow over half the world. Likewise, the rings themselves would cast shadows on Earth.

What if the Earth is twice as big?

Earth were twice as big? If Earth's diameter were doubled to about 16,000 miles, the planet's mass would increase eight times, and the force of gravity on the planet would be twice as strong. Life would be: Built and proportioned differently.

What if the Earth stopped spinning?

If Earth were to stop spinning but continue to orbit the sun, a "day" would last half a year, and so would the night. It could warm up much more during the day and cool down much more during the night. This would affect the climate on Earth.

Can the Moon crash into Earth?

Long answer: The Moon is in a stable orbit around Earth. There is no chance that it could just change its orbit and crash into Earth without something else really massive coming along and changing the situation. The Moon is actually moving away from Earth at the rate of a few centimetres per year.

How big was the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs?

The impact site, known as the Chicxulub crater, is centred on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. The asteroid is thought to have been between 10 and 15 kilometres wide, but the velocity of its collision caused the creation of a much larger crater, 150 kilometres in diameter - the second-largest crater on the planet.

Can an asteroid break the Moon?

The Moon is very big, and any small object hitting it would have very little effect on its motion around the Earth, because the Moon's own momentum would overwhelm that of the impact. Most asteroid collisions would result in large craters and little else; even the largest asteroid known, Ceres, wouldn't budge the Moon.

How long would it take for the Moon to crash into Earth?

For now, our anomalously large Moon is spinning away from us at a variable rate of 3.8 centimeters per year. But, in fact, the Earth and Moon may be on a very long-term collision course --- one that incredibly some 65 billion years from now, could result in a catastrophic lunar inspiral.

Can a moon be destroyed?

It's a lot. The binding energy of a smaller object, like our moon is a tidy little 1.2 x 10^29 joules. It takes about 1800 times more energy to destroy the Earth than it takes to destroy the moon.

Can we breathe without gravity?

We breathe by expanding our lungs. This literally pulls air into our lungs because we are making more space inside our bodies. As long as the air around us is thick enough we can breathe, regardless of gravity. On Earth, gravity is what holds our atmosphere.

What would happen to Earth if we lost the gravitational pull of the Sun?

Gravity is the force that pulls Earth and stops it from going off in some other direction.” Without the sun's gravitational pull, Earth would move in a straight line away from the sun. Gravity is also the force that keeps the moon revolving around Earth.

What if gravity was doubled?

Doubling gravity would put your body under a great deal of stress and could be fatal if you were exposed to it for a protracted period. Firstly, your joints and skeleton would strain to support your increased weight. Your muscles would struggle with even small movements.

What if the Sun stopped for 1 second?

Eternal night would fall over the planet and Earth will start traveling into interstellar space at 18 miles per second. Within 2 seconds, the full moon reflecting the sun's rays on the dark side of the planet would also go dark.

How long would humans survive without the Sun?

With no sunlight, photosynthesis would stop, but that would only kill some of the plants—there are some larger trees that can survive for decades without it. Within a few days, however, the temperatures would begin to drop, and any humans left on the planet's surface would die soon after.

Do we have 2 moons?

The simple answer is that Earth has only one moon, which we call “the moon”. It is the largest and brightest object in the night sky, and the only solar system body besides Earth that humans have visited in our space exploration efforts.

What would happen if Earth had two suns?

When both suns were up, days would be much brighter. Nights would be different too because the suns would sometimes set at different times [source: Warren]. Still others suggest that the number of eclipses would increase as one sun moved in front of the other, maybe as often as once a week or so.