Washington – A rocky object called the Benne is classified as a nearby asteroid and currently takes the closest approach to Earth every six years, about 186,000 miles away. Scientists estimated the possibility of a collision with Earth at 1,700 in September 2182, which could make it even closer in the future.
So should Bennu attack our planet? It’s not pretty, according to a new study based on computer simulations of impacts by asteroids with diameters of about three-thirds of miles like Bennu.
Apart from immediate devastation, we estimated that such an impact would inject 100-400 million tons of dust into the atmosphere, causing disruptions in climate, atmospheric chemistry, and global photosynthesis that last for three to four years.
“Dimming the sun due to dust causes a rapid global “winter” characterized by low sunlight, cold temperatures and lower surface precipitation,” South Korea’s Pousan National University, and science advances this week. The lead author of the study published in the journal.
In the worst-case scenario, researchers found that the average surface temperature of the Earth is reduced by about 7 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius), with average rainfall dropping by 15%, and plants down by up to 20-30% I discovered there is. Photosynthesis and 32% depletion of the planet’s ozone layer protecting against harmful solar ultraviolet rays.
The impact of a Bennu-sized object, a medium asteroid on the Earth’s land surface, produces powerful shock waves, earthquakes, wildfires and thermal radiation, leaving gaping craters and ejecting large amounts of debris upwards. Researchers said.
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According to Dai, a climate physicist and ICCP director, and Axel Timmermann, a senior author of the study, large amounts of aerosols and gases reach the high atmosphere and affect climate and ecosystems for many years.
This mosaic image of the asteroid Bennu, consisting of 12 Polycam images collected by the Osiris-Rex spacecraft from a 15-mile range on December 2, 2018. NASA/Goddard/Arizona University/Handout Reuters
Unfavorable climatic conditions will hinder plant growth on land and in the ocean, they said.
“In contrast to the rapid decline in plants on the land and slower plant recovery, marine plankton recovers within six months and continues to be precedents caused by iron-rich dust. It also increases when diatoms (algae species) bloom. They accumulate in the ocean,” Dai said.
Researchers say layer depletion occurs in the stratosphere due to strong warming caused by the solar absorption of dust particles.
Collisions of this sized asteroid can cause a major loss of human life, but the calculations were outside the scope of the study. Dai said the potential death toll “mainly depends on where the asteroid impact occurs.”
Scientists know a lot about Bennu, considered the “Cell of the Tile Mountain” asteroid. This is a loose fusion of rocky matter rather than solid objects. This is the rocky remains of a larger celestial body that formed near the dawn of the solar system about 4.5 billion years ago. NASA’s robot Osiris-Rex spacecraft moved to Bennu and collected rock and dust samples for analysis in 2020.
A study published in January showed that Bennu samples carry some of the chemical components of life. This is strong evidence that asteroids may have sown early Earth with raw components that promote the emergence of living organisms.
Asteroids have occasionally hit Earth over their long history. Estimated 66 million years ago, an asteroid, estimated to be 6-9 miles wide from the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, has eradicated about a quarter of the world’s species.
In 2022, NASA conducted a principled planetary defense mission by using a robotic DART spacecraft to change the trajectory of the asteroid’s dimorphos.
“The chances of a Bennu-sized asteroid hitting Earth are very small at 0.037%. Despite its small, the potential impact is very serious, some of the biggest volcanic eruptions in the last 100,000 years. “It could lead to massive long-term food insecurity on our planet and climatic conditions similar to what we see only in.”
“So it’s important to think about risk,” Timmerman added.
