The closest threat from space to the earth. Is there a threat to Earth from space? Asteroids and ghost planets
Today it became known that astronomers of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory discovered a 400-meter asteroid, which in 2032 may collide with the Earth.
Scientists around the world are constantly studying our Universe. Many recent discoveries are truly shocking. And the further scientists delve into the secrets of the Universe, the more dangers they find for our planet from the side of space. In our article, we have collected the most dangerous of them.
In 2004 an asteroid "Apophis"(this name was given to him a year later) was too close to the Earth and immediately caused a general discussion. The chance of hitting Earth was higher, however. According to a special scale (Turin), the danger in 2004 was rated at 4, which is an absolute record.
In early 2013, scientists received more accurate data on the mass of Apophis. It turned out that the volume and mass of this asteroid is 75% larger than previously thought - 325 ± 15 meters.
“In 2029, the asteroid Apophis will be closer to us than our own communication satellites. It will be so close that people will see Apophis passing by the Earth with the naked eye. You don't even need binoculars to see how close this asteroid will pass. There is a 90% chance that Apophis will not hit the ground in 2029. But if Apophis passes at a distance of 30,406 km, it may fall into the gravitational keyhole, a narrow area 1 km wide. If this happens, Earth's gravity will change the trajectory of Apophis, forcing him to return and fall to Earth, seven years later, on April 13, 2036. The gravitational effect of the Earth will change the orbit of Apophis, which will cause Apophis to return and fall to the Earth. At present, the chances of Apophis delivering a fatal blow to the Earth in 2036 are estimated at 1:45,000.- from documentary film"Universe. The end of the Earth is a threat from outer space."
This year, NASA scientists said that the possibility of a collision of Apophis with the Earth in 2036 is almost completely excluded.
Despite this, it is worth remembering: everything that crosses the Earth's orbit may one day fall into it.
Possible locations of the fall of Apophis in 2036 (source: Paul Salazar Foundation)
gamma burst
Every day, a bright flash appears several times in the universe. This bundle of energy is gamma radiation. In terms of power, it is hundreds of times more powerful than anything. nuclear weapons on the ground. If the flash occurs close enough to our planet (at a distance of 100 light years), death will be inevitable: a powerful stream of radiation will simply burn the upper layers of the atmosphere, the ozone layer will disappear and all living things will burn.
Scientists suggest that flashes of gamma rays occur due to the explosion of a large star, which is at least 10 times larger than our Sun.
Sun
Everything we call life would be impossible without the sun. But this brightest planet will not always give us life.
Gradually, the Sun increases in size and becomes hotter. At that moment, when the Sun turns into a red giant, and this is about 30 times larger than its current size, and the brightness increases by 1000 times, all this will melt the Earth and the nearest planets.
Over time, the Sun will turn into a white dwarf. It will become about the size of the Earth, but will still be in the center of our solar system. It will shine a lot less. Eventually all the planets will cool and freeze.
But until then, the Sun will still have a chance to destroy the Earth in another way. Life on our planet is impossible without water. As soon as the heat of the Sun increases so much that the oceans turn into steam, all life will die from lack of water.
The threat to the Earth can be carried by objects approaching it at a distance of at least 8 million kilometers and large enough not to collapse when entering the planet's atmosphere. They are a danger to our planet.
Until recently, the asteroid Apophis, discovered in 2004, was called the object with the highest probability of a collision with the Earth. Such a collision was considered possible in 2036. However, after Apophis passed by our planet in January 2013 at a distance of about 14 million km. NASA experts have reduced the likelihood of a collision to a minimum. The chances, according to Don Yeomans, head of the near-Earth object laboratory, are less than one in a million.
Nevertheless, experts have calculated the approximate consequences of the fall of Apophis, whose diameter is about 300 meters and weighs about 27 million tons. Thus, the energy released during the collision of the body with the Earth's surface will be 1717 megatons. The strength of an earthquake within a radius of 10 kilometers from the place of impact can reach 6.5 on the Richter scale, and the wind speed will be at least 790 m/s. In this case, even fortified objects will be destroyed.
Asteroid 2007 TU24 was discovered on October 11, 2007, and already on January 29, 2008, it flew near our planet at a distance of about 550 thousand km. Due to its extraordinary brightness - the 12th magnitude - it could be seen even in medium-power telescopes. Such a close passage of a large celestial body from the Earth is a rare occurrence. The next time an asteroid of the same size will approach our planet will be in 2027.
TU24 is a massive celestial body comparable to the size of the University building on Sparrow Hills. According to astronomers, the asteroid is potentially dangerous because it crosses the Earth's orbit approximately once every three years. But, at least until 2170, according to experts, it does not threaten the Earth.
The space object 2012 DA14 or Duende belongs to the near-Earth asteroids. Its dimensions are relatively modest - a diameter of about 30 meters, a weight of about 40,000 tons. According to scientists, it looks like a giant potato. Immediately after the discovery on February 23, 2012, it was found that science is dealing with an unusual celestial body. The fact is that the orbit of the asteroid is in 1:1 resonance with the Earth. This means that the period of its revolution around the Sun approximately corresponds to the Earth's year.
For a long time, Duende may be near the Earth, but astronomers are not yet ready to predict the behavior of a celestial body in the future. Although, according to the calculations available today, the probability of Duende colliding with the Earth before February 16, 2020 will not exceed one chance in 14,000.
Immediately after the discovery on December 28, 2005, the asteroid YU55 was classified as potentially hazardous. In diameter, the space object reaches 400 meters. It has an elliptical orbit, which indicates the instability of its trajectory and unpredictable behavior.
In November 2011, the asteroid has already aroused scientific world, flying up to a dangerous distance to the Earth of 325 thousand kilometers - that is, it turned out to be closer than the Moon. Interestingly, the object is completely black and almost invisible in the night sky, for which astronomers nicknamed it "Invisible". Scientists then seriously feared that a space alien would enter the earth's atmosphere.
An asteroid with such an intriguing name is an old acquaintance of earthlings. It was discovered by the German astronomer Karl Witt back in 1898 and was the first near-Earth asteroid discovered. Eros also became the first asteroid to acquire artificial satellite. We are talking about the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft, which in 2001 landed on a celestial body.
Eros is the largest asteroid in the inner solar system. Its dimensions are amazing -33 x 13 x 13 km. average speed giant 24.36 km/s. The shape of the asteroid is similar to a peanut, which affects the uneven distribution of gravity on it. The impact potential of Eros in the event of a collision with the Earth is simply enormous. According to scientists, the consequences after an asteroid hit our planet will be more catastrophic than after the fall of Chicxulub, which allegedly caused the extinction of dinosaurs. The only consolation is that the chances of this happening in the foreseeable future are scanty.
Asteroid 2001 WN5 was discovered on November 20, 2001 and later fell into the category of potentially hazardous objects. First of all, one should be afraid that neither the asteroid itself nor its trajectory have been sufficiently studied. According to preliminary data, it can reach 1.5 kilometers in diameter.
On June 26, 2028, the next approach of the asteroid to the Earth will take place, and the cosmic body will approach the minimum distance for itself - 250 thousand km. According to scientists, it can be seen through binoculars. This distance is enough to cause satellites to malfunction.
This asteroid was discovered by Russian astronomer Gennady Borisov on September 16, 2013 using a homemade 20 cm telescope. The object was immediately called perhaps the most dangerous threat among celestial bodies for the Earth. The diameter of the object is about 400 meters.
The approach of the asteroid to our planet is expected on August 26, 2032. According to some assumptions, the block will sweep only 4 thousand kilometers from the Earth at a speed of 15 km / s. Scientists have calculated that in the event of a collision with the Earth, the energy of the explosion will be 2.5 thousand megatons of TNT. For example, the power of the largest thermonuclear bomb, blown up in the USSR - 50 megatons.
To date, the probability of an asteroid colliding with the Earth is estimated at about 1/63,000. However, with further refinement of the orbit, the indicator can either increase or decrease.
At the beginning we will general characteristics outer space, as well as its objects that can directly pose a threat to planet Earth. "Cosmos" in Greek means order, structure, harmony (in general, something ordered). Philosophers Ancient Greece understood the word "cosmos" as the Universe, considering it as an ordered harmonious system. Space was opposed to disorder, chaos. http://www.astronet.ru/ The concept of "cosmos" first included not only the world of celestial bodies, but also everything that we encounter on the surface of the Earth. More often, the cosmos is understood as the Universe, considered as something unified, subject to general laws. This is where the name of cosmology comes from - a science that tries to find the laws of the structure and development of the Universe as a whole. In the modern sense, the cosmos is everything that is outside the Earth and its atmosphere.
The nearest and most accessible area of outer space for research is near-Earth space. It was from this area that human space exploration began, the first rockets visited it and the first satellite routes were laid. Flying spaceships with crews on board and the exit of astronauts directly into outer space significantly expanded the possibilities for exploring "near space". Space research also includes the study of "deep space" and a number of new phenomena associated with the influence of weightlessness and other cosmic phenomena. factors on the physical-chemical. and biological processes.
What is the physical nature of near-Earth space? Gases forming the upper layers earth's atmosphere, are ionized by the UV radiation of the Sun, that is, they are in the plasma state. The plasma interacts with the Earth's magnetic field in such a way that the magnetic field exerts pressure on the plasma. With distance from the Earth, the pressure of the plasma itself falls faster than the pressure exerted on it by the terrestrial magnetic field. As a result, the plasma shell of the Earth can be divided into two parts. The lower part where the plasma pressure exceeds the pressure magnetic field- ionosphere. Above lies the magnetosphere - the region where the pressure of the magnetic field is greater than the gaseous pressure of the plasma. The behavior of plasma in the magnetosphere is determined and regulated primarily by the magnetic field. field and is fundamentally different from the behavior of an ordinary gas. Therefore, unlike the ionosphere, which is attributed to the upper atmosphere of the Earth, the magnetosphere is usually attributed to the cosmic. space. By physical nature, near-Earth space, or near space, is the magnetosphere. In the magnetosphere, the phenomenon of the capture of charged particles by the Earth's magnetic field becomes possible, which acts as a natural magnetic trap. This is how the Earth's radiation belts are formed.
The attribution of the magnetosphere to outer space is due to the fact that it closely interacts with more distant space objects, and above all with the Sun. The outer shell of the Sun - the corona - emits a continuous stream of plasma - the solar wind. At the Earth, it interacts with the earth's magnetic field (for a plasma, a sufficiently strong magnetic field is the same as a solid body), flowing around it, like a supersonic gas flow around an obstacle. In this case, a stationary outgoing shock wave, the front of which is located at a distance of approx. 14 Earth radii (~100,000 km) from its center on the day side. Closer to the Earth, the plasma that has passed through the wave front is in chaotic turbulent motion. The transitional turbulent region ends where the pressure of the regular magnetic field of the Earth exceeds the pressure of the turbulent plasma of the solar wind. This is external. the boundary of the magnetosphere, or magnetopause, located at a distance of approx. 10 Earth radii (~60000 km) from the center of the Earth from the day side. From the night side, the solar wind forms the plasma tail of the Earth (sometimes it is inaccurately called the gas tail). Manifestations of solar activity - flares on the Sun - lead to the ejection of solar matter in the form of individual plasma bunches. Clots flying in the direction of the Earth, hitting the magnetosphere, cause it for a short time. compression followed by expansion. This is how magnetic storms, and some particles of the bunch penetrating the magnetosphere cause auroras, disruption of radio and even telegraph communications. The most energetic bunch particles are registered as solar cosmic rays (they make up only a small part of the total cosmic ray flux).
Briefly describe the solar system. Here are the nearest targets of space flights - the Moon and planets. The space between the planets is filled with plasma of very low density, which is carried by the solar wind. The nature of the interaction of the solar wind plasma with the planets depends on whether or not the planets have a magnetic field.
The family of natural satellites of the giant planets is very diverse. One of Jupiter's moons, Io, is the most volcanically active body in the solar system. Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, has a fairly dense atmosphere, almost comparable to Earth's. A very unusual phenomenon. and the interaction of such satellites with the surrounding plasma of the magnetospheres of the mother planets. The rings of Saturn are made up of rocks and ice blocks of different sizes, down to the smallest dust particles, can be considered as a giant conglomerate of miniature natural satellites.
Comets move in very elongated orbits around the Sun. Comet nuclei are composed of individual rocks and dust particles frozen into a block of ice. This ice is not quite ordinary; in addition to water, it contains ammonia and methane. Chem. The composition of comet ice resembles that of the big planet- Jupiter. As the comet approaches the Sun, the ice partially evaporates, forming the comet's giant gaseous tail. Comet tails are turned away from the Sun, because they are constantly exposed to radiation pressure and the solar wind.
Our Sun is just one of many stars that form a giant star system - the Galaxy. And this system, in turn, is only one of many other galaxies. Astronomers are accustomed to refer the word "Galaxy" as a proper name to our star system, and the same word as a common noun - to all such systems in general. Our Galaxy contains 150-200 billion stars. They are located in such a way that the Galaxy has the form of a flat disk, in the middle of which, as it were, a ball is inserted with a diameter smaller than that of the disk. The sun is located on the periphery of the disk, practically in its plane of symmetry. Therefore, when we look at the sky in the plane of the disk, we see a luminous band in the night sky - the Milky Way, consisting of stars belonging to the disk. The very name "Galaxy" comes from the Greek word galaktikos - milky, milky and means the system of the Milky Way.
The study of the spectra of stars, their movements, and other properties, in comparison with theoretical calculations, made it possible to create a theory of the structure and evolution of stars. According to this theory, the main source of energy for stars is nuclear reactions occurring deep in the interior of the star, where the temperature is thousands of times higher than on the surface. Nuclear reactions in space and the origin of chem. elements are studied by nuclear astrophysics. At certain stages of evolution, stars eject part of their matter, which joins the interstellar gas. Particularly powerful emissions occur during stellar explosions, observed as flares supernovae. In other cases, stellar explosions can form black holes - objects whose matter falls towards the center at a speed close to the speed of light, and, due to the effects of the general theory of relativity (the theory of gravitation), seems to be frozen in this fall. Radiation cannot escape from the depths of black holes. At the same time, the environment black hole the substance forms the so-called. accretion disk and, under certain conditions, emits X-rays due to the gravitational energy of attraction to the black hole.
So, what threatens space?
Among natural disasters, a special place belongs to cosmogenic disasters, given their large scale and the possibility of severe environmental impact. There are two types of cosmic catastrophes: impact-collision (USC), when the parts of the spacecraft not destroyed in the atmosphere collide with the Earth's surface, forming craters on it, and air-explosive (AEC), in which the object is completely destroyed in the atmosphere. Combined catastrophes are also possible. An example of USC is the Arizona meteorite crater with a diameter of 1.2 km, formed about 50 thousand years ago as a result of the fall of an iron meteorite weighing 10 thousand tons, and IHC is the Tunguska catastrophe (a meteorite with a diameter of 50 m was completely dispersed in the atmosphere).
The consequences of catastrophes arising from the impact of space objects on the Earth can be the following:
Natural and climatic - the occurrence of the effect of nuclear winter, disruption of climatic and ecological balance, soil erosion, irreversible and reversible impacts on flora and fauna, atmospheric pollution with nitrogen oxides, abundant acid rain, destruction of the ozone layer of the atmosphere, massive fires; death and defeat of people;
Economic - the destruction of economic facilities, engineering structures and communications, including the destruction and damage to transport routes;
Cultural and historical - the destruction of cultural and historical values;
Political - possible complication the international situation associated with the migration of the population from the places of the catastrophe, and the weakening of individual states.
Affecting factors as a result of exposure to CO.
The damaging factors and their energy in each particular case depend on the type of catastrophe, as well as on the place where the space object fell. They are largely similar to the damaging factors characteristic of nuclear weapons (with the exception of radiological ones).
These are:
Shockwave:
Air - causes destruction of buildings and structures, communications, communication lines, damage to highways, damage to people, flora and fauna;
In water - destruction and damage to hydraulic structures, surface and underwater vessels, partial damage to marine flora and fauna (at the disaster site), as well as natural natural phenomena(tsunami) causing destruction in coastal areas;
In the ground - phenomena similar to earthquakes (destruction of buildings and structures, engineering communications, communication lines, highways, death and injury of people, flora and fauna).
Light radiation leads to destruction material assets, the occurrence of various atmospheric and climatic effects, the death and defeat of people, flora and fauna.
· electromagnetic pulse affects electrical and electronic equipment, damages communication systems, television and radio broadcasting, etc.
Atmospheric electricity - the consequences of the damaging factor are similar to the effects of lightning.
· Poisonous substances - this is the occurrence of gas contamination of the atmosphere in the disaster area, mainly nitrogen oxides and its toxic compounds.
Aerosol pollution of the atmosphere - the effect of this is similar to dust storms, and with a large scale of the catastrophe, it can lead to a change climatic conditions on the ground.
Secondary damaging factors appear as a result of the destruction of nuclear power plants, dams, chemical plants, warehouses for various purposes, storage facilities radioactive waste and so on.
Danger for the planet Earth is represented by such space "guests" and phenomena as: asteroids (small planets), comets, meteorites, viruses brought by space bodies from space, disturbances in the sun, black holes, the birth of supernovae.
The Earth constantly encounters small cosmic bodies. It is more correct to call these meetings collisions, because our planet moves in orbit at a speed of about 30 km / s, and a celestial body also flies towards the Earth in its orbit at a speed of the same order. If the body is small, then, crashing into the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere, it is enveloped in a layer of hot plasma and completely evaporates. Such particles in science are called meteors, and among the people "shooting stars". The meteor suddenly flashes and draws a rapidly fading trail in the night sky. Sometimes there are "meteor showers" - the mass appearance of meteors when the Earth meets with meteor swarms, or streams. The Perseid swarm is well known, observed in the region of the constellation Perseus. The associated "starfalls" are celebrated annually on nights close to August 12. And every 33 years, in mid-November, the Leonids meteor shower, observed in the region of the constellation Leo, "sheds" on Earth. Last time this event took place on November 16-18, 1998. The meeting of the Earth with a larger body looks quite different. It evaporates only partially, penetrates into the lower layers of the atmosphere, sometimes breaks up into pieces or explodes, and, having lost speed, falls on earth's surface. Such a body in flight is called a fireball, and what flew to the surface is called a meteorite.
Back in the 18th century, small planets - asteroids - were first discovered with the help of a telescope. By our time, several hundred of them have already been discovered, and the orbits of about 500 of them cross the Earth's orbit or approach it dangerously. It is possible that in fact there are more such asteroids - several thousand. Comets can also pose a considerable danger to the Earth: in the history of mankind, apparently, there were about 2000 of them. And the Earth is constantly encountered with small cosmic bodies. "Science and Life" No. 8, 1995; № 3, 2000 Almost 20 thousand meteorites fall annually to the Earth, but the vast majority of them have a very small size and mass. The smallest - weighing only a few grams - do not even reach the surface of our planet, burning up in dense layers her atmosphere. But already 100-gram ones reach and are capable of causing considerable harm to both a living being and a building, or, for example, vehicle. But, fortunately, according to statistics, more than 2/3 of meteorites of any size fall into the ocean, and only fairly large ones can cause a tsunami. The fall into the ocean of small cosmic bodies leads to much less dangerous consequences than when falling on land, as a result of which craters appear on Earth.
Of the relatively large craters on Earth, more than 230 are known. It is assumed that the fall of large cosmic bodies to the Earth led to the death of a significant part of the biota. And in particular - to the death of 2/3 of living organisms, including dinosaurs, which occurred 65 million years ago as a result of a large asteroid or comet nucleus colliding with the Earth. It is possible that the appearance of a crater 180 km in diameter on the Yucatan Peninsula is connected with this event: the age of this crater is 64.98 ± 0.04 million years. But such serious catastrophes are rare and are not expected in the foreseeable future, while collisions with the Earth of meteorites, including large ones, and therefore capable of bringing considerable disasters to mankind, are quite probable. Optimism, however, is inspired by the fact that modern science is quite able not only to predict, but also to prevent such collisions. After all, astronomers are able to calculate the trajectory of the flight of a cosmic body for several years ahead, and this is quite enough to find a way to change it or, in extreme cases, destroy the meteorite itself A. Mikisha, M. Smirnov. Earth disasters caused by meteorite impacts. "Vestnik RAS" Volume 69, No. 4, 1999, pp. 327-336
According to statistics, collisions of the Earth with an asteroid up to one and a half kilometers in diameter can occur approximately once every 300 thousand years. The more time our world has lived without encounters with "space bombs", the higher the likelihood of such an event in the future.
In pictures taken from space, about 4 thousand strange ring structures are visible on the body of the planet from tens to several thousand kilometers across. This is nothing but traces of hits of "space projectiles". Of course, in an ongoing meteor shower, not very large (by cosmic standards, of course) bodies are more common. For example, the mass of the Sikhote-Alin meteorite that fell on Far East in 1947, reached 100 tons. A meteorite that crashed into the Gobi Desert weighed 600 tons. But even from a meeting with such "kids" very noticeable scars and "pockmarks" remain on the body of the Earth. So, a pebble that once fell in Arizona left a crater with a diameter of almost one and a half kilometers and a depth of 170 meters. .
Stones wandering in space now and then whistle next to our planet, "like bullets at the temple."
From official sources:
1932 The Apollo asteroid attacked Earth. A stone "bomb" with a diameter of one kilometer missed by 10 million kilometers. Quite a bit on a cosmic scale.
1936 Asteroid "Adonis" emerged from the darkness of space already at a distance of 2 million kilometers.
1968 The micro-planet Icarus rushed dangerously close.
1989 An asteroid with a diameter of about a kilometer crossed the Earth's orbit, having missed our planet by only six hours.
In May 1996, at a speed of 20 kilometers per second, a five-hundred-meter diameter asteroid flew by at a speed of 20 kilometers per second... Had such a crumb collided with the Earth, the explosion power would have reached about 3,000 megatons of TNT equivalent. And the consequences are such that the continued existence of our civilization became very doubtful.
In 1997, two more large asteroids crossed the Earth's orbit... One cannot say that humanity is so defenseless against the meteorite danger. It is estimated that the combat missiles that exist today can meet on approach to the Earth and destroy any cosmic body with a diameter of up to a kilometer. The plan for such an interception originated back in the 60s, when the Icarus asteroid dangerously approached our planet.
Recently this issue has been brought up again. The threat from outer space was discussed on International Conference"Asteroid Hazard", held in St. Petersburg. The same questions were raised at the "Space Defense of the Earth" symposium held in the Russian secret city of Snezhinsk. In a short period of time, another representative meeting took place (this time in Rome), where the creation of a "space guard" was announced - international organization, putting before
Space protection is necessary, and it must be multifaceted, since the Earth must be protected not only from "heavenly stones", but also from other misfortunes supplied to us by space.
The mystery of the origin of new viruses has led some scientists to suggest that this scourge comes to us from outer space. The danger of such "gifts" can hardly be overestimated. Recall at least the legendary "Spanish flu" (an outdated name for the flu, which existed at the beginning of the 20th century). During the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919, about 20 million people died from this disease. Death occurred as a result of acute inflammation and pulmonary edema. Today, scientists believe that it was not the flu at all that led to so many victims, but some other, still unknown disease.
In those years, virology was in its infancy and could not unambiguously identify the causative agent of the disease. In some laboratories around the world, tissue samples of people who died during the Spanish flu pandemic have been preserved, but studies carried out many years later did not find microbes there that would have such deadly properties.
Now it is planned to exhume the corpses on the island of Svalbard, where at the beginning of the 20th century there was an operating mine and in permafrost the bodies of miners who died during the pandemic may have retained an unknown virus. Virologists are pushing for these studies because epidemics happen in cycles and doctors need to know exactly the true nature of the "Spanish flu" of the beginning of the century in order to prevent death of people if the disease returns when the Earth once again crosses a cloud of cosmic dust, possibly infected with viruses.
The sun also gives us "gifts". Scientists recall the catastrophic event that occurred in March 1989 in Quebec. After a powerful solar flare, a stream of particles reached the surface of our planet, causing a man-made disaster in Canada - all electricity generators went out of order there and six million people were left without heat and light for almost a day.
Many scientists argue that the current activity of the Sun creates the possibility of a recurrence of the "Quebec cataclysm" in the very near future. Several American space satellites already allegedly out of order due to powerful solar emissions rushing towards the Earth.
However, in the department of solar physics of the Astronomical Institute. Sternberg is consoled by mankind, saying that the situation is within the normal range and nothing supernatural is expected. Yes, several satellites have been damaged, but the noise that is raised around this event, again, is caused more by a desire to get money for their research programs than by a real danger.
However, the date of the possible future meeting with the next "space bomb" has already been determined - August 14, 2126. The forecast was made by the respected American astronomer Brian Marsden. He predicted a collision with Comet Swift-Tatla. We are talking about an ice mountain with a diameter of 10 kilometers. Its impact on the Earth will be equivalent to the explosion of 100 million powerful atomic bombs. We will believe that by this time the earthly civilization will surely be able to protect itself from any comets and meteorites.
We must not forget that our planet is the same stone projectile that rushes through space with great speed. And on this way through the expanses of the Universe, our Earth is waiting for the most unexpected and dangerous surprises. Experts talk about the fatal sectors of the Galaxy, where there are miniature "black holes", scattered clouds of poisonous gases, "bubbles" with altered spatial and temporal characteristics...
Unfortunately, there is not enough funding for space defense and research in this area, even in civilized countries.
In particular, although the American space agency NASA is able to detect almost all asteroids that threaten the Earth, the department does not have enough funds for these purposes. To detect approximately 20,000 asteroids and comets potentially dangerous to the planet (which is approximately 90% of the possible ones), NASA needs a billion dollars by 2020. Back in 2005, the US Congress instructed the agency to develop a plan to track the trajectories of most asteroids and comets.
In addition, scientists had to identify the most dangerous of them and propose a project for their evasion from the planet. NASA currently tracks mainly the largest space objects, which are more than a kilometer in diameter. However, at least 769 known asteroids and comets, whose diameter does not exceed 140 meters, are observed less closely. Although scientists note that even small objects pose a threat to the Earth, since their explosions near the planet as a result of heating can lead to significant destruction. To fully track the movement of asteroids, NASA offers two options: either build a new ground telescope worth 800 million, or launch a space infrared telescope worth 1.1 billion. The US administration considers both options too expensive http:// Polit.ru.
Thus, space is full of dangers to life, especially asteroids, meteorites, comets threatening to crash into the Earth. The number of dangers increases with distance into space: for example, supernovae, which emit enough radiation to break through the protective ozone layer of the Earth. A new study has shown that this former star should be 25 light-years from Earth - so close that it can only happen once or twice in a billion years. Previously, this risk was thought to be much higher. Physicist Malvin Ruderman of Columbia University calculated in 1974 that cosmic and gamma rays from a supernova 50 light-years away could destroy most ozone layer. But the latest estimates from Neil Gerels of the Goddard Space Flight Center are a relief. The scientist used a detailed model of the atmosphere to understand how nitric oxide, a compound catalyzed by supernova radiation, would destroy ozone. It turned out that in order for twice as much ultraviolet rays to penetrate the atmosphere as now, a star must explode at a distance of no more than 25 light years. Today, at such a small distance from the Earth, there is not a single star large enough for it to die, turning into a supernova. Moreover, such stars very rarely approach the solar system, so a supernova can occur here no more than once every 700 million years.
There is a danger from so-called black holes. The famous physicist Stephen Hawking was forced to reconsider his theory of black holes. Previously, it was believed that no object is able to get out of the powerful gravitational field of a black hole. However, later the scientist came to the conclusion that information about these objects that fell into a space hole can be radiated back in a transformed form. This perverted information, in turn, changes the essence of the object. An object "infected" in this way transforms any information about the object that it encounters on its way. Moreover, if the cloud reaches the Earth, then the effect of its impact on the planet will be akin to spilling water on a handwritten ink text, which corrodes words and turns into a mess.
Solar flares are dangerous. An interplanetary shock wave generated by a solar flare, reaching the Earth, causes the aurora, visible even in mid-latitudes. The velocity of the ejected material may be about 908 km/s (observed in 2000). The ejection, consisting of giant clouds of electrons and magnetic fields, reaching the Earth is capable of causing large magnetic storms that can interrupt satellite communications. Coronal mass ejections can carry up to 10 billion tons of electrified gas from the Sun's corona, propagating at speeds up to 2000 km/s. As they become more and more, they envelop the Sun, forming a halo around our star. It may sound ominous, but in fact, such emissions do not pose a danger to people on Earth. The magnetic field of our planet serves as a reliable protective screen against the solar wind. When the solar wind reaches the magnetosphere - the region around the Earth controlled by its magnetic field - much of the material is deflected far beyond our planet. If the solar wind wave is large, it can compress the magnetosphere and cause a geomagnetic storm. IN previous time such an event occurred in early April 2000.
And carelessly. In others developed countries there is a compliance with all laws, the development of cleaning equipment, environmentally friendly fuels and machines. However, the threat of pollution environment everything is exactly great danger.
When garbage is thrown out, the toxic substances contained in it enter the soil, poisoning it. Then they are washed groundwater and carried into rivers and seas. When more and more such substances accumulate, plants and animals die out in the water, and people's health worsens.
Air pollution leads to the greenhouse effect. Due to the substances ejected into it, the necessary amount of heat does not leave the Earth, but remains on the planet. This causes negative climate change. Which in turn can lead to natural disasters.
The ozone layer is the layer in upper layers atmosphere and protecting the planet from cosmic radiation. It has already been practically destroyed over Antarctica, if it completely disappears, then all life on Earth will be burned by radiation from space. Substances that destroy this layer are emitted into the atmosphere, and now its partial decrease over the planet leads to an increase in eye diseases, oncology, and general deterioration in health.
nuclear threat
Despite the fact that many countries support the elimination of nuclear weapons, this threat remains relevant. Some countries do not agree to openly show their nuclear policy. The danger of this threat lies in the numerous extinction of people, animals, plants. Also, after a nuclear explosion, a huge territory will become uninhabitable for many decades to come.
Nuclear power plants can also cause nuclear explosions. Although safe stations are being built around the world, some danger remains. In 2011, there was an accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. It would seem that Japanese technology is one of the best in the world, but as a result of a strong earthquake and tsunami, the power supply system for cooling a nuclear reactor could not stand it.
Threat from space
Most asteroids flying near the Earth are not dangerous. They have too small size and even if they fall on the planet, they do not bring any destruction.
But securing the Earth from a large asteroid is one of the most difficult tasks. Explosion in space atomic bomb is one of the methods being developed to combat the asteroid hazard.
Now there is a threat to the Earth from several large asteroids. However, there is a chance that they will fly by. The distance between these cosmic bodies and the planet at the moment of approach will be very small.
Geological hazard
The reversal of the magnetic field is the so-called reversal of the poles. Despite the fact that mankind did not have to experience this phenomenon, scientists think that the inversion may occur in the near future. During the change of poles, geological changes occur, which are accompanied by natural disasters. Also, the Earth's field, which protects against cosmic radiation, will be so weakened that it can destroy most of humanity, the animal and plant world.
The end of the world did not happen in 2012, but it was just one of many prophecies that do not end in 2012. What awaits us in the coming years and what threats await us?
2014 - Cloud sowing chaos
According to astronomers, a cloud of dust is approaching the Earth, which erases everything in its path. It emerged from a black hole - at a distance of 28,000 light years from our planet. Astronomers observing a celestial body say that they managed to detect a strange clot, which has already been dubbed a "cloud of chaos" - it destroys everything in its path: comets, asteroids, planets and stars. Now he's heading for Earth.
The 10-million-mile-long space object was discovered by NASA's Chandra Observatory in April this year and, according to scientists, belongs to the "acid fog" category. The mysterious cloud is expected to reach Earth by 2014. The only positive news around this discovery is that thanks to it, a number of assumptions made earlier in physics are confirmed. " Bad news- that complete destruction our solar system is inevitable," said Albert Shervinsky, an astrophysicist at the University of Cambridge.
According to Shervinsky, information about the approaching threat is kept secret, and NASA, trying to avoid panic, is in no hurry to disclose its find. At the same time, the astrophysicist is convinced that if the cloud does not turn off its trajectory, then our galaxy will decrease to its previous size, i.e. to the original state of the birth of the universe.
2015 - End of the 9576-year cycle
In the early 90s of the last century, Professor of the National University "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy" Mykola Chmykhov (1953-1994) came up with a theory according to which natural and social upheavals on Earth are caused by cosmic phenomena, in particular, crises in the relative position of the planets of the solar system.
Using modern data from archeology, history, astronomy, geophysics, ethnography and many other sciences, he actually laid the foundations of a new worldview concept - cosmoarchaeological.
All this happens through severe inter-epochal natural upheavals: floods, fires, changes in the inclination of the earth's axis, and for people - through wars, invasions, mutual destruction, etc.
The year 2015, which marks the turning point of as many as three - 1596 -, 7980 - and 9576 - year cycles (and many smaller ones included in these large and significant cycles), should mark the beginning of a qualitatively new era, both for the life of the cosmic organism of the planet Earth, and for the existence human community.
2016 - The Flood
In 1988, James Hansen, Director of the Space Research Institute at NASA, first announced the impact of human activity on the increase in the temperature of the planetary atmosphere. It took a lot of courage.
Speaking to reporters recently in Washington, Hansen emphasized that the world had long since crossed the dangerous threshold of emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere:
"We have reached the point where emergency has acquired a planetary scale. We have come close to turning point throughout the global climate system. If we miss it, then huge systemic changes will begin, and the process will get out of control. We have already reached one point of no return, and during the summer season we can lose all the Arctic ice cover. This will happen due to an imbalance in the energy balance of the planet,” says Hansen.
According to him, in 2016, the Arctic ice will completely melt in one summer season, which will lead to the flooding of vast areas.
2017 - The death of the world according to the prophecy of the Holy Matrona
In conversations with her loved ones, Saint Matrona said: “How sorry I am for you, you will live to the end times. Life will get worse and worse. Heavy. The time will come when they will put a cross and bread in front of you and say - choose! Mother Matrona was always surrounded by believers, they knew what they would choose - of course, the cross. But they asked mother Matrona - how are we going to live without food? The Holy Matrona said: “And we will pray, we will take some land, we will roll up balls, we will pray to God, we will eat and we will be full!”
Mother said - "The people are under hypnosis, they are not themselves, a terrible force lives in the air, penetrates everywhere, before swamps and dense forests were the habitat of this force, since people went to churches, wore a cross and houses were protected by images, lamps and consecration, and demons flew past such houses, and now people are inhabited by demons due to unbelief and rejection of God.
Also, apparently last times mother said this: There will be no war, without war you will all die, there will be many victims, all the dead will lie on the ground. In the evening everything will be on the ground, and in the morning you will rise - everything will go into the ground. Without war, war goes on!"
2018-2019 - Nuclear and bacteriological wars
This is the prediction of the astrologer Michel Nostradamus. Quatrain 41 Centuries II.
“The Big Star will boil for seven days.
It will raise such a cloud that the sun will double.
The big dog will howl that night
When will the pope change his residence?
According to the prophecies of Nostradamus, we are threatened with a famine of such magnitude that many will be forced to eat forest roots, and some will even become cannibals. We are threatened by wars with the use of chemical, bacteriological and nuclear weapons, as well as the worst inflation that mankind has ever known. We will suffer the economic and social consequences of religious conflicts unleashed by fanatics. In other words, an era of monstrous terror and endless fear is coming.
However, not everything is so gloomy, since the same Nostradamus, having predicted disasters in the coming years, nevertheless believed that after some long period after such sufferings, humanity would live happily and travel in interstellar space.
2060 - Newton's Apocalypse
Manuscript of the great physicist Isaac Newton terrible prophecy was presented at an exhibition that opened at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Newton is the father of classical physics, the man who developed differential and integral calculus, built the first mirror telescope.
In an exhibition called "Newton's Secrets" you can see a manuscript that displays a specific date for the end of the world - 2060. It is known that the great physicist determined it by deciphering the Bible. It took him almost 50 years to do this.
The fact that Newton indicated the exact date of Armageddon, experts learned at the end of 2002, when a manuscript with records was discovered. He, in turn, was kept for many years in the Jewish National Library in Jerusalem among the sheets of the unsorted archive of the author of the law of universal gravitation.
