Asteroids: Deadly Impact (1997) 
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"Asteroids, also called minor planets or planetoids, are a class of astronomical object. The term asteroid is generally used to indicate a diverse group of small celestial bodies that drift in the solar system in orbit around the Sun. Asteroid (Greek for "star-like") is the word used most in the English literature for minor planets, which has been the term preferred by the International Astronomical Union; some other languages prefer planetoid (Greek: "planet-like"), because it more accurately describes what they are. In late August 2006, the IAU introduced the term "small solar system bodies" (SSSBs), which includes most objects thus far classified as minor planets, as well as comets. At the same time |
they introduced the term dwarf planet for the largest minor planets. This article deals specifically with the minor planets that orbit in the inner solar systemThe first asteroid to be discovered, Ceres, is the largest asteroid known to date and is now classified as a dwarf planet. All others are currently classified as small solar system bodies. The vast majority of asteroids are found within the main Asteroid Belt
Information found at: WikipediaImpact Events are caused by the collision of large meteoroids, asteroids or comets (generically: bolides) with Earth and may sometimes be followed by mass extinctions of life.
The most significant recorded impact in recent times was the Tunguska event, which occurred in Siberia, Russia, in 1908. This incident involved an explosion that was probably caused by the airburst of an asteroid or comet 5 to 10 kilometers (3 - 6 mi) above the Earth's surface, felling an estimated 80 million trees over 2,150 square kilometers (830 sq mi). But although the Tunguska event was both spectacular and unparalleled in any historical record, it no longer seems as unique and unusual as it once did. We now know that Earth impacts, including fairly big ones, are happening all the time.
The late Eugene Shoemaker of the U.S. Geological Survey came up with an estimate of the rate of Earth impacts, and suggested that an event about the size of the nuclear weapon that destroyed Hiroshima occurs about once a year. Such events would seem to be spectacularly obvious, but they generally go unnoticed for a number of reasons: the majority of the Earth's surface is covered by water; a good portion of the land surface is uninhabited; and the explosions generally occur at relatively high altitude, resulting in a huge flash and thunderclap but no real damage.
Some have been observed. Noteworthy examples include the Sikhote-Alin Meteorite fall in Primorye, far eastern Russia, in 1947, and the Revelstoke fireball of 1965, which occurred over the snows of British Columbia, Canada. Another fireball blew up over the Australian town of Dubbo in April 1993, shaking things up but causing no harm.
On the dark morning hours of January 18, 2000, a fireball exploded over the town of Whitehorse in the Canadian Yukon at an altitude of about 26 kilometers, lighting up the night like day and bringing down a third of the Yukon's electrical power grid, due to the electromagnetic pulse created by the blast. The meteor that produced the fireball was estimated to be about 4.6 meters in diameter and with a weight of 180 tonnes.
Information found at: Wikipedia
Dear Asteroid Enthusiasts,I am writing to you in behalf of your Heavenly Father. He is seeking you like a lost sheep. You remember the Bible story? It is about a shepherd who has 100 sheep. But when he brings the sheep home one night, one is missing. He then leaves the 99 sheep and goes out into the wilderness until he finds that lost sheep.
In this parable the shepherd goes out to search for the one lost sheep-the very least that can be numbered. So if there had been but one lost soul, Christ would have died for that one. To read more click Lost Sheep?
Susan Dietel
Web Programmer
Email:
susansdesign@yahoo.com
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URL: http://www.susansdesign.com/asteroid.htm
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