With this program you can simulate the collision of an asteroid or a
comet with any planet in Solar System!
HELP:
Displays this help screen. To exit, click one of the
Exit Help buttons.
Target. Pick one of the nine
planets in the Solar System or the Earth's Moon.
Projectile Composition.
Comets are thought to be composed mainly of ice. Asteroids are
typically made of rock and/or iron. Because iron is denser than rock, iron
projectiles can make bigger craters than rocky or icy projectiles.
Projectile Diameter.
Typical shooting stars are a millimeter in diameter. Tunguska-type
atmospheric explosions result from objects several tens of meters in
size. An object several tens of kilometers in size colliding with
Earth might trigger a devastating nuclear winter.
Projectile Velocity.
Asteroids typically collide with the Earth at about 20 kilometers per
second (km/s). Comets have a large range of collision speeds --
between about 20 and 70 km/s. The minimum impact speed for objects
hitting Earth is the Earth's escape velocity: 11.2 km/s.
Exit Help