Earth's intense gravity may rip space rocks apart, reducing the risk of 'planet killer' asteroids

[Admin]

Earth and other terrestrial planets probably use their gravitational forces to tear apart asteroids ― but this creates more streams of smaller asteroids.

Earth's intense gravity may rip space rocks apart, reducing the risk of 'planet killer' asteroids : Read more

 

[George²]

It is preferable for humanity to invent and actually produce equipment with which it can actively and effectively protect itself from catastrophic events originating outside the planet, including asteroids. For a civilization as modern and advanced as ours currently is, to continue to rely only on the natural barriers provided by the planet is unforgivable.

 

[Pogo]

This would not do much good if the asteroid is on a collision course with us, it may break apart in the last few moments, but, that will just spread out the damage footprint a bit. This only works if it’s a body that has a close encounter, then, maybe future orbits of each fragment are altered enough to miss Earth.

 

[Questioner]

It seems to me it depends on the character of the object in question.
If it's an aggregated rubble &/or slush pile, then yeah it will disintegrate readily,
but if it is an iron-nickle body that melted together during the chaos (friction) of planet(s) formation,
it's not going to just fracture to pieces under a little gravitational stress.

and i will add that over long time
random encounters will filter to preserve more coherennt objects over rubble piles.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

And then there is this: https://www.iflscience.com/nasa-res...steroid-2007-ft3-will-hit-earth-in-2024-72253 .

Paraphrasing: " 2007 FT3 is a real asteroid, first observed in 2007, and is on NASA's Sentry Risk Table of objects that could potentially impact Earth. It is also a "lost" asteroid, as it was seen for just 1.2 days before disappearing from NASA's view. The 314-meter (1,030 feet) asteroid became too faint and has not been seen since. It was observed at 14 points in its arc over those two days, allowing astronomers to calculate its orbit and look for potential collisions between Earth and it. Doing so, NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies identified 89 potential impacts, including one on October 5, 2024. One potential point of impact, or where the asteroid was supposed to be closest to Earth, took place in 2019. But, it was not observed."

SOOOO, how good are we at finding something this size at the distances predicted? Is this evidence to support the theory of this article, or not?

And, if it did not disintegrate on the pass in 2007, it seems that NASA is not doing so well predicting its orbit. How sure are we that it won't hit us at some time not predicted?

And, of course, this can be more fodder for "The aliens are watching us."

 

[Questioner]

Per 2007 FT3,

It could have been a rubble pile that got pulled apart or redirected by some other object's gravity,
although space is generally very empty.
I don't completely dismiss the possibility it was something other than an asteroid.

I was wondering what part of the EM spectrum it was sighted with and if rotation or changing position caused it to be lost from tracking.

We may find out what it is in Oct this year depending on whether it creates a huge exploding crater on the Whitehouse lawn or just some smoking grass....