Asteroids make us nervous, and for good reason.
Large rocks hitting the earth at great speeds can not only destroy large areas of land,
the impact can have knock on effects to our environment for very large periods of time.
The Asteroid that put an end to the dinosaur dynasty was travelling between 12-17 miles
a second.
Fast… but absolutely categorically and fundamentally nowhere close to the speed of light.
So…what would happen if something did hit us at light speed?
Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, the channel that loves to muse
on many a wild query – from science to space, history and politics to pop culture.
I am your host Rebecca Felgate, join me as we ask the apocalyptic question – What if
an Asteroid Hit Earth at the Speed of Light?
I am neither an accredited scientist nor a physicist so my answer to this is going to
be more circumstantial than mathematical….
But an early spoiler….
It would be a total mess.
Before we get into this video, why don’t you let me know what you think would happen
if an Asteroid hit the earth at light speed.
While you are down there please do leave a thumbs up on this video and share it with
a friend.
Also if you haven’t yet subscribed to our channel then please do so now - stick around
to the end of the video when I will be reading out replies to some of your comments.
So what if an Asteroid hit earth at the speed of light?
Okay, let’s get REAL for a second before we insight any panic… no particle with mass
can travel at the speed of light.
The speed of light is the fasted known movement and seems to be only be capable by photons
– light particles.
A photon carries energy proportional to the radiation frequency but has no mass.
Stick with me for a second, Einstein figured out the mass energy equivalence – Energy
equals Mass and Speed squared.
As an object approaches the speed of light, its mass rises very quickly, as does the energy
to move it… making it impossible.
The Asteroid that hit earth 65 million years ago causing all the extinction drama hit at
between 19-27 kilometres a second.
To put this in perspective, the speed of light is - 300,000 km per second…sooo… like……absolutely
nowhere close.
Despite not even reaching a fraction of light speed, the impact crater left by the meteor
– the Chicxulub crater is 150 kilometres in diameter and 20 kilometres in depth.
The Impact was one thing – the dust and debris it blew into the atmosphere was entirely
another.
It covered large swathes of the world in dust and blocked out the sun for weeks.
It also caused massive fires and generated a tsunami tidal wave.
Annnd of course, we know it triggered the K-PG extinction event.
All of this for an asteroid travelling at 20 something kilometres per second?
I mean…… it’s a bit ridiculous - as you can imagine anything approaching the speed
of light would be…well… ridiculous.
When it comes to impact at speed….size doesn’t matter.
Think about it.
A bullet hitting you in the chest is more likely to kill you than being run over by
a car at 20 Kilometres per hour.
If something .01 the speed of light hit the earth it would leave a huge crater….
Like…… huge huge and likely choke the planet and plantlife with dust from the fall
out.
Aside of the potential millions of people who would die on impact, billions would likely
die in the fallout.
If something one tenth the speed of light hit the earth the impact would be so great
that it would crack a hole in the earths crust, wounding it right to the mantle, spilling
hot hot molten mantle, which could turn the earth into a firery ball…
Also, the light from the impact, which would generate energy thousands upon thousands of
times more powerful than the most deadly nuclear weapon we have, would instantly blind us.
We would die a firey death but we wouldn’t be able to see a thing.
And yes, say an asteroid with mass travelled at the speed of light defying everything we
know about the laws of physics thus far and hit the earth… well… honies….
Its over…
If something the speed of light hit the earth the energy it hit with would punch a hole
in the earth right to the core, turn the world’s surface into a huge ball of fire, the atmosphere
would burn away and we’ll all die quickly in a blaze.
The crumbling earth rocks and moon would be knocked out of orbit and after the great blaze
we would be space rocks.
But fear not….
Once again….
It cant and wont happen.
That doesn’t mean we are safe from regular Asteroids, though….
Although you worrying about those wont help… so don’t bother…
NASA is on it.
OKAY what a cheery video!
- What do you guys think would happen if an Asteroid hit earth at light speed ? How long
in advance do you think we would know about it?
Answers on a postcard….
But actually in the comments section!
Before I go I am going to read some comments from one of my
recent videos – What if Texas left America?
T-MantheHero said: Honestly America would be lost without Texas?
Dominic Scott said: California leaving instead would be the end of the US.
Matt Morrison said: What if Scotland went independent.
Avery Loopez Baines said: What if New York Left America