What Are Cosmic Collisions?

To someone standing outside, looking at the night sky, all may seem calm and quite peaceful in the universe. But the professionals who study the stars, the planets and the infinite variety of other things in “space” know that the universe is anything but calm and peaceful.

This perception of the sky is changing, certainly. But it has not changed completely. Before human beings were able to get a closer look at planets and stars through telescopes, the huge space above the earth was seen as calm and possessed certain majesty in the eyes of nearly everyone on the planet.

Over the centuries however the view changed drastically for some, as they were able to see details of the universe that were not apparent before. As men got this closer look, they began to see that a number of different objects were soaring through the space, some in defined orbits and others simply racing in what appeared to be straight lines. Sometimes the paths of these objects crossed and cosmic collisions occurred, often creating smaller pieces that continued to travel in one direction in the vacuum.

Astronomers point to the many craters on the surface of Earth’s moon as evidence of the cosmic collisions and the effect these collisions have. Not all collisions are of the magnitude of those that create huge craters on the moon and on Earth. Scientists believe that hundreds, even thousands of smaller pieces collide constantly, unseen by any eye from Earth. Some of the objects are huge balls of ice that could cause as much damage to a surface as any stone-like material.

Some see the solar system as quite dangerous to any object that happens to pass through it. It would be like a person trying to run across the open area in a shooting gallery, with projectiles flying all around. Some scientists believe that huge cosmic collisions between a meteor and earth killed the dinosaurs by hurling thousands of tons of dust into the atmosphere, blocking the sunlight. This sunless state may have lasted long enough to kill most plant and animal life on the planet.

Astronomers have found the most of the items known as asteroids are not in the Earth orbit or very close to it. However, they have identified a number of these objects that have the potential to cross the Earth’s path sometime in the future. Even a small asteroid hitting Earth or a similar size body in space would create an explosion with the power of millions of tons of TNT. Entire sections of the Earth would be obliterated and the resulting change in weather patterns and the reduced sunlight due to dust could cause widespread death.

Another celestial body that has cosmic collision potential is the comet, less of a threat than the more numerous asteroids. A comet is smaller and has a distinct tail of ice and dust. Because of the material comets are made of it is less likely that a comet would cause major damage to the object it struck. The bottom line is that the Earth’s solar system is anything but calm, as cosmic collisions are occurring most of the time.

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