Comet c2013 On A Possible Collision Course With Mars in 2014 - Polidicks

[QUOTE=LarparNar;39747648]If it does hit we could possibly get footage of it either from one of the orbiting crafts we have there (most likely) or some sort of footage from a rover. Depends on where it hits.[/QUOTE] Chances of any rover getting that are virtually nonexistent. But our Mars orbit satellites, perhaps.

[QUOTE=zombini;39748675]Terraforming mars is a lost cause, the entire reason mars has such a thin atmosphere is because it's magnetic field died, and the atmosphere was stripped away by the sun.[/QUOTE] As I mentioned above this takes hundreds of thousands if not millions of years to happen. It's not something that happens in like an hour or a day. We'd have many, many generations of usable atmosphere even without a magnetosphere to protect it.

[QUOTE=zombini;39748675]Terraforming mars is a lost cause, the entire reason mars has such a thin atmosphere is because it's magnetic field died, and the atmosphere was stripped away by the sun.[/QUOTE] I forgot how big of a bitch solar wind is.

[QUOTE=pinecleandog;39747343]Why can't it be possible for debris to come Earth then? So far nobody has done anything to explain why not, other than just telling me that I'm wrong.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.phrenopolis.com/perspective/solarsystem/[/url]

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;39746911]If this thing hits with enough force it could actually release a lot of CO2 and water locked in the ground. Hell it's one of the big ideas for terraforming mars anyway, if this starts the process we'd be as well carrying it on.[/QUOTE] If it's 30 miles in diameter, couldn't that potentially destabilize the planet and cause catastrophic damage to it?

[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;39749789]If it's 30 miles in diameter, couldn't that potentially destabilize the planet and cause catastrophic damage to it?[/QUOTE] If you mean Mars exploding in a cinematic fireworks display, then no. Mars has a mass of 6.39*10^21kg, and if the comet is approximately spherical with the density of iron (which is a high estimate for a comet), it has a mass of 4.63*10^8kg. Mars is 10000000000000 times more massive than the approximation.

Earth first, make Mars our bitch.

[QUOTE=pinecleandog;39747167]Okay well perhaps I should say unlikely, but not impossible. Just think about it, there could be endless possibilities... For instance there would be debris flying around.[/QUOTE] yeah man thousands of cobble sized rocks will come zipping to earth and destroy everything in its wake [thumb]http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2010/07/meteor-crater-flagstaff-azmtcrt1.jpg[/thumb] this is what NY will look like no joke [editline]28th February 2013[/editline] joking love you

So in essence, God got bored with Earth and decided to terraform Mars and create Human Race v2.0. I'm okay with this, as long as he fixes that dumn bug where I keep biting my own tongue.

Seems like a perfect time to take the LCROSS idea and scale it up slightly

That'll be a show to watch.

Well, at least we'll have something to study when we send another probe there; since it's a comet it's mostly rocks and ice, so there probably wouldn't be much in the way of mineral wealth, but there would be a substantial addition of water-ice on the Red Planet if the collision occurs. Speaking of which, have they worked out the composition of the comet yet? If so, I hope they can estimate projections concerning how much the comet's composition will have changed by the time it would hit by October next year, since that'd give a fair impression of how much water-ice would end up on Mars, even if the impact causes a few chunks to get flung skyward. Or is that not how comet impacts work?

haven't [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_meteorite]some meteorites[/url] been found to come from Mars, though?

[QUOTE=salty peanut v2;39751644]haven't [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_meteorite]some meteorites[/url] been found to come from Mars, though?[/QUOTE] Yes, but the chances of that happening (especially when the comet is this size) is very small. You have to remember that the planets have been around for billions of years, and the solar system was much more violent when it was young. For something to be shot from Mars and off to Earth, it has to be shot out with the right speed, in the right direction, when Mars is at it's right place in it's orbit compared to where the Earth is. It's with almost 100% certainty not going to happen in our lifetimes.

[QUOTE=LarparNar;39751946]You have to remember that the planets have been around for billions of years, and the solar system was much more violent when it was young.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=LarparNar;39751946]and the solar system was much more violent when it was young.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=LarparNar;39751946]much more violent when it was young.[/QUOTE] [b]VIDEO GAMES CAUSE VIOLENCE IN YOUNG PLANETS, DESTROYS EARTH MORE AT TWELVE[/b]

[QUOTE=pinecleandog;39747223]I don't see why you guys are so close minded about it. Anything can happen, none of us have lived through a comet hitting mars in our lifetime, and nobody can predict exactly what happens. I'm not saying "OMG ITS GONNA END THE WORLD" I'm saying it could affect us in a minor way; For example something as simple as small debris entering the atmosphere. Of course any of that stuff would takes yonks to get to us.[/QUOTE] This is actually correct. Small meteorites from Mars landing on Earth are not unheard of. [editline]28th February 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=LarparNar;39751946]Yes, but the chances of that happening (especially when the comet is this size) is very small. You have to remember that the planets have been around for billions of years, and the solar system was much more violent when it was young. For something to be shot from Mars and off to Earth, it has to be shot out with the right speed, in the right direction, when Mars is at it's right place in it's orbit compared to where the Earth is. It's with almost 100% certainty not going to happen in our lifetimes.[/QUOTE] I don't see where that statistic comes from. Debris doesn't shoot out from a collision at the same speed or direction.

[QUOTE=Disseminate;39749840]If you mean Mars exploding in a cinematic fireworks display, then no. Mars has a mass of 6.39*10^21kg, and if the comet is approximately spherical with the density of iron (which is a high estimate for a comet), it has a mass of 4.63*10^8kg. Mars is 10000000000000 times more massive than the approximation.[/QUOTE] No, I know it wouldn't do that, but what about damage to the crust, triggering fault lines, volcanoes, ect, that sort of thing.

[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;39756426]No, I know it wouldn't do that, but what about damage to the crust, triggering fault lines, volcanoes, ect, that sort of thing.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=sltungle;39747853]This is exactly what I was thinking (well, if it hit one of the ice-caps at least). An absolutely absurd amount of water would flood out onto the surface of the planet and CO2 thrown into the air (which the solar wind would take hundreds of thousands to millions of years to strip away again, so we'd have time to utilise the new atmosphere). And, on top of that, the level of depth which matter would be thrown up from (well, that which wasn't immediately vapourised in the blast) if studied would probably tell us a WHOLE host about the geological past of Mars. Assuming this is a giant ball of carbon (it's average atomic mass is probably HIGHER than that of carbon actually - much higher - but just on that assumption...), at 50km in diameter, with a relative speed to Mars of 56 km per second, the transfer of momentum to Mars in that collision (assuming it's a completely elastic collision) would be enough to alter Mars' velocity by about 1.3 cm/s (that might not seem like an awful lot, but any impact with any astronomical body departing enough momentum to even NOTICEABLY alter the velocity of said astronomical body is pretty fucking insane). [editline]1st March 2013[/editline] Actually, I take that back. With the yield given in the article of 2×10^10 megatons (2x10^13 kilotons, or 20000000000000 kilotons for you to copy and paste it) the impact would turn half of Mars into a fucking ocean of magma, [url]http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/[/url] There wouldn't be any carbon dioxide or water LEFT. It'd all be atomised in the explosion.[/QUOTE] Use the map, input the yield from the article (and bear in mind it's Earth used on that website - a much larger planet (however we also have more of an atmosphere so we experience certain aspects of a nuclear blast that wouldn't be as pronounced on Mars)), you'll see what I'm on about.

[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;39756426]No, I know it wouldn't do that, but what about damage to the crust, triggering fault lines, volcanoes, ect, that sort of thing.[/QUOTE] Mars doesn't have plate tectonics. There aren't any fault lines/volcanoes/etc. [editline]28th February 2013[/editline] The surface of Mars would definitely be changed, though.

[QUOTE=Falubii;39754643]I don't see where that statistic comes from. Debris doesn't shoot out from a collision at the same speed or direction.[/QUOTE] I didn't say it did? It's still very unlikely that anything will be shot in the right direction at the right speed, especially when the comet is this small.

[QUOTE=LarparNar;39758410]I didn't say it did? It's still very unlikely that anything will be shot in the right direction at the right speed, especially when the comet is this small.[/QUOTE] It's very possible that small (and by that I mean we'll never know of them) pieces of rock are shot in many different directions at many different speeds, and eventually one of them will intersect with Earth's orbit.

[QUOTE=Falubii;39759707]It's very possible that small (and by that I mean we'll never know of them) pieces of rock are shot in many different directions at many different speeds, and eventually one of them will intersect with Earth's orbit.[/QUOTE] Yes, but it won't affect us in any meaningful way, like pinecleandog said it could (which was the base of the discussion).

[QUOTE=Disseminate;39756560]Mars doesn't have plate tectonics. There aren't any fault lines/volcanoes/etc. [editline]28th February 2013[/editline] The surface of Mars would definitely be changed, though.[/QUOTE] I'd be very interested to see what happends to the terrain on the antipode of the impact. Will probably be some cool shit going on there

[QUOTE=Stormcharger;39746894]imagine if it hit curiosity that would be hilariously terrible[/QUOTE] [url]http://youtu.be/iCkYw3cRwLo?t=1m32s[/url]

Better red then dead.

For anyone who's still worried about Mars getting knocked out of its orbit or something: [img]http://i.imgur.com/U7xvTLO.png[/img] Scale drawing, assuming the comet's 80km across. (It's assumed 50-80km)

[QUOTE=r0b0tsquid;39762197]For anyone who's still worried about Mars getting knocked out of its orbit or something: [img]http://i.imgur.com/U7xvTLO.png[/img] Scale drawing, assuming the comet's 80km across. (It's assumed 50-80km)[/QUOTE] On that comparison, that comet is still really fucking huge.

[QUOTE=r0b0tsquid;39762197]For anyone who's still worried about Mars getting knocked out of its orbit or something: [img]http://i.imgur.com/U7xvTLO.png[/img] Scale drawing, assuming the comet's 80km across. (It's assumed 50-80km)[/QUOTE] Think you can make a scale distance comparison too?

[QUOTE=r0b0tsquid;39762197]For anyone who's still worried about Mars getting knocked out of its orbit or something: [img]http://i.imgur.com/U7xvTLO.png[/img] Scale drawing, assuming the comet's 80km across. (It's assumed 50-80km)[/QUOTE] Bear in mind the issue of being knocked off of course is not ONLY a function of the mass of the meteor, but also it's velocity, and it's travelling pretty fucking fast. Like I showed on the previous page, assuming the comet was a huge ball of carbon (most likely it'd be heavier), at the speed it's going the impact would, if completely elastic, alter Mars' orbital velocity by about 1.3 cm per second if I'm not mistaken. Nothing too major, but still scary that it'd be altered on a level that's tangible.

[QUOTE=sltungle;39769988]Bear in mind the issue of being knocked off of course is not ONLY a function of the mass of the meteor, but also it's velocity, and it's travelling pretty fucking fast. Like I showed on the previous page, assuming the comet was a huge ball of carbon (most likely it'd be heavier), at the speed it's going the impact would, if completely elastic, alter Mars' orbital velocity by about 1.3 cm per second if I'm not mistaken. Nothing too major, but still scary that it'd be altered on a level that's tangible.[/QUOTE] Scary my ass, you'd need something the size of earth to majorly affect it's orbit. 1.3 cm/s does something, but it's so minor it might as well be nothing.