"I will personally see to the destruction of the Tauri home world!"
"I will personally see to the destruction of the Tauri home world!"
Beat me to it.
But for those who wonder what this asteroid could do.
Impact Effects
Robert Marcus, H. Jay Melosh, and Gareth Collins
Please note: the results below are estimates based on current (limited) understanding of the impact process and come with large uncertainties; they should be used with caution, particularly in the case of peculiar input parameters. All values are given to three significant figures but this does not reflect the precision of the estimate. For more information about the uncertainty associated with our calculations and a full discussion of this program, please refer to this article
Your Inputs:
Distance from Impact: 5.00 km = 3.10 miles
Projectile Diameter: 390.00 m = 1279.20 ft = 0.24 miles
Projectile Density: 8000 kg/m3
Impact Velocity: 17.00 km/s = 10.56 miles/s
Impact Angle: 45 degrees
Target Density: 2500 kg/m3
Target Type: Sedimentary Rock
Energy:
Energy before atmospheric entry: 3.59 x 1019 Joules = 8.58 x 103 MegaTons TNT
The average interval between impacts of this size somewhere on Earth during the last 4 billion years is 1.2 x 105years
Atmospheric Entry:
The projectile begins to breakup at an altitude of 14200 meters = 46500 ft
The projectile reaches the ground in a broken condition. The mass of projectile strikes the surface at velocity 16.9 km/s = 10.5 miles/s
The impact energy is 3.55 x 1019 Joules = 8.48 x 103MegaTons.
The broken projectile fragments strike the ground in an ellipse of dimension 0.627 km by 0.443 km
Major Global Changes:
The Earth is not strongly disturbed by the impact and loses negligible mass.
The impact does not make a noticeable change in the Earth's rotation period or the tilt of its axis.
The impact does not shift the Earth's orbit noticeably.
Crater Dimensions:
What does this mean?
Crater shape is normal in spite of atmospheric crushing; fragments are not significantly dispersed.
Transient Crater Diameter: 7.02 km = 4.36 miles
Transient Crater Depth: 2.48 km = 1.54 miles
Final Crater Diameter: 9.1 km = 5.65 miles
Final Crater Depth: 0.575 km = 0.357 miles
The crater formed is a complex crater.
The volume of the target melted or vaporized is 0.223 km3 = 0.0536 miles3
Roughly half the melt remains in the crater , where its average thickness is 5.77 meters = 18.9 feet
Thermal Radiation:
What does this mean?
Time for maximum radiation: 0.389 seconds after impact
Your position is inside the fireball.
The fireball appears 299 times larger than the sun
Thermal Exposure: 6.77 x 108 Joules/m2
Duration of Irradiation: 85.4 seconds
Radiant flux (relative to the sun): 7930
Effects of Thermal Radiation:
Clothing ignites
Much of the body suffers third degree burns
Newspaper ignites
Plywood flames
Deciduous trees ignite
Grass ignites
Seismic Effects:
What does this mean?
The major seismic shaking will arrive at approximately 1 seconds.
Richter Scale Magnitude: 7.2
Mercalli Scale Intensity at a distance of 5 km:
IX. General panic. Damage considerable in specially designed structures; well-designed frame structures thrown out of plumb. Damage great in substantial buildings, with partial collapse. Buildings shifted off foundations. Serious damage to reservoirs. Underground pipes broken. Conspicuous cracks in ground. In alluviated areas sand and mud ejected, earthquake fountains, sand craters.
X. Most masonry and frame structures destroyed with their foundations. Some well-built wooden structures and bridges destroyed. Serious damage to dams, dikes, embankments. Large landslides. Water thrown on banks of canals, rivers, lakes, etc. Sand and mud shifted horizontally on beaches and flat land. Rails bent slightly.
Ejecta:
What does this mean?
The ejecta will arrive approximately 32 seconds after the impact.
Your position is beneath the continuous ejecta deposit.
Average Ejecta Thickness: 174 m = 569 ft
Air Blast:
What does this mean?
The air blast will arrive at approximately 15.2 seconds.
Peak Overpressure: 1.67e+07 Pa = 167 bars = 2380 psi
Max wind velocity: 3280 m/s = 7340 mph
Sound Intensity: 144 dB (Dangerously Loud)
Damage Description:
Multistory wall-bearing buildings will collapse.
Wood frame buildings will almost completely collapse.
Multistory steel-framed office-type buildings will suffer extreme frame distortion, incipient collapse.
Highway truss bridges will collapse.
Highway girder bridges will collapse.
Glass windows will shatter.
Cars and trucks will be largely displaced and grossly distorted and will require rebuilding before use.
Up to 90 percent of trees blown down; remainder stripped of branches and leaves.
Tell me more...
Click here for a pdf document that details the observations, assumptions, and equations upon which this program is based. It describes our approach to quantifying the important impact processes that might affect the people, buildings, and landscape in the vicinity of an impact event and discusses the uncertainty in our predictions. The processes included are: atmospheric entry, impact crater formation, fireball expansion and thermal radiation, ejecta deposition, seismic shaking, and the propagation of the atmospheric blast wave.
Anubis tried that a few years ago, but we're on to them now...