The opinion of an astrophysicist: our civilization can be destroyed by the comet Swift-Tuttle, which over the past weekend intensively showered the Earth with Perseid meteors.
On the night of August 12-13, 2017, the Perseid meteor shower reached its maximum. Astronomers assure: "stars fell" about 150 pieces per hour. Pebbles, pieces of ice and dust particles from the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle flared up in bright streams.
A Perseid stream meteor photographed over England over the weekend
The comet flies by, the trail remains. Every year our planet enters it, like a river, revolving around the Sun.
Meetings with a train do not pose any danger. But one day the situation may change to a catastrophic one: the Earth will not intersect with him and not even with the tail of the comet, but with herself. Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel, who published his forecasts on Forbes, does not rule out such a possibility.
Comet Swift-Tuttyal is periodic, regularly visits the solar system
Comet Swift-Tuttle was discovered in 1862. Astronomers last saw her in 1992. And very accurately determined the trajectory of movement. It is estimated that in 2126 the comet will approach our planet, but at a completely safe 23 million kilometers. It will only be clearly visible.
In 4479, the Earth and the heavenly wanderer will be separated by only 4.5 million kilometers. This also does not threaten anything. However, according to Siegel, calculations that do not promise trouble may turn out to be incorrect, since the trajectory of the comet can change the gravitational effect of Jupiter. It will fly past the giant planet several times. As a result, the probability of a direct collision with the Earth will appear.
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Comet Swift-Tuttle is huge. Its core is 26 kilometers in diameter. It is almost 3 times larger than the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. The explosion from the impact of such a giant will be 28 times more powerful than that which happened 65 million years ago. It is unlikely that humanity will have at least some chance of survival. Unless, of course, it disappears earlier as a result of a nuclear war. Or some other misunderstanding.
In the meantime, people can admire the meteors, which are scattered by the potential killer of civilization. The Perseids will flare up until August 24, or even until August 26, as if flying out of the constellation Perseus, which gave the name to the meteor shower - Perseids.
It is necessary to look for the constellation Perseus in the northern part of the sky - just below and to the left of the constellation Cassiopeia, which resembles the letter "W" in shape.
Meteors, flying towards us at a speed of about 60 kilometers per second, begin to light up at heights from 100 to 70 kilometers above the Earth. Some - the largest ones - can fall for a few seconds.
Look for the Perseids in the constellation Perseus
VLADIMIR LAGOVSKY