Comets to scale
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Comets to scale
by Rogue Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:40 am
Graphic Shows The Size Of Rosetta's Comet
August 19, 2014 | by Stephen Luntz
photo credit: Michel @quark1972 Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko to scale with downton Los Angeles
Our sense of scale tends to adjust to circumstances. So when we think about comets it is easy to compare them with other astronomical objects. In which case comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, just 3km wide, sounds tiny.
However, as you can see in the image above, things look rather different when you compare the comet to something we are really familiar with - such as tall buildings.
While Churyumov-Gerasimenko is small enough that one could walk from one end to the other fairly in less than an hour, it’s easy to forget the three dimensional nature of something like this – 3km across is no big deal, but two kilometers helps make sense of what happened to the dinosaurs.
The image is by @quark1972, who combined a photograph of Los Angeles with an image from the Rosetta spacecraft rendezvousing with Churyumov-Gerasimenko, prior to going into orbit and eventually landing.
While Rosetta will be doing its best to touch down very gently on the comet’s surface, we can’t count on Churyumov-Gerasimenko doing the same if it ever paid LA a visit. You can get some idea of what would happen in such a collision here, although the scale of the damage depends greatly on the impact speed you choose to enter.
Since Churyumov-Gerasimenko never crosses the Earth's orbit there is no danger of a collision, at least until a close encounter with some other planet shifts its orbit. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for other, even larger, asteroids and comets.
Read more at http://www.iflscience.com/space/graphic-shows-size-rosettas-comet#y8REruB8ORDxsFZB.99
August 19, 2014 | by Stephen Luntz
photo credit: Michel @quark1972 Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko to scale with downton Los Angeles
Our sense of scale tends to adjust to circumstances. So when we think about comets it is easy to compare them with other astronomical objects. In which case comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, just 3km wide, sounds tiny.
However, as you can see in the image above, things look rather different when you compare the comet to something we are really familiar with - such as tall buildings.
While Churyumov-Gerasimenko is small enough that one could walk from one end to the other fairly in less than an hour, it’s easy to forget the three dimensional nature of something like this – 3km across is no big deal, but two kilometers helps make sense of what happened to the dinosaurs.
The image is by @quark1972, who combined a photograph of Los Angeles with an image from the Rosetta spacecraft rendezvousing with Churyumov-Gerasimenko, prior to going into orbit and eventually landing.
While Rosetta will be doing its best to touch down very gently on the comet’s surface, we can’t count on Churyumov-Gerasimenko doing the same if it ever paid LA a visit. You can get some idea of what would happen in such a collision here, although the scale of the damage depends greatly on the impact speed you choose to enter.
Since Churyumov-Gerasimenko never crosses the Earth's orbit there is no danger of a collision, at least until a close encounter with some other planet shifts its orbit. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for other, even larger, asteroids and comets.
Read more at http://www.iflscience.com/space/graphic-shows-size-rosettas-comet#y8REruB8ORDxsFZB.99
Rogue- Posts : 37277
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Location : Next to the Sandgroper
Re: Comets to scale
by Kaere Fri Aug 22, 2014 9:19 am
Wow, that definitely putting it into perspective 
Kaere- Posts : 31049
Join date : 2014-06-09
Re: Comets to scale
by Rogue Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:27 pm
Yeah! Sure puts it into perspective alright! Wouldn't want to see that hurtling toward us.
Rogue- Posts : 37277
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Re: Comets to scale
by Rockhopper Sat Aug 23, 2014 1:51 am
That is one big chunk of dirty ice Rogue. Fortunately it wouldn't reach the earth's surface, it would melt/burn-up in the air.
We would get a shower of hot rocky rain though.
Tim.
We would get a shower of hot rocky rain though.
Tim.
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