How big was the comet that destroyed Earth?

According to abundant geological evidence, an asteroid roughly 10 km (6 miles) across hit Earth about 65 million years ago. This impact made a huge explosion and a crater about 180 km (roughly 110 miles) across.

How big would a comet have to be to destroy the earth?

If the comet is 10 kilometers across or larger (that is, if the impact carries an energy of more than about 100 million megatons), the resulting global environmental damage will be so extensive that it will lead to a mass extinction, in which most life forms die.

What was the biggest comet to hit Earth?

The Chelyabinsk meteor was estimated to have caused over $30 million in damage. It is the largest recorded object to have encountered the Earth since the 1908 Tunguska event. The meteor is estimated to have an initial diameter of 17–20 metres and a mass of roughly 10,000 tonnes.

How big was the comet that wiped out the dinosaurs?

Folks in the asteroid camp think the impactor was about 6.2 miles (10 km) in diameter. Asteroid or comet fragment, the space rock was big enough to spur one of Earth's six known mass extinctions.

What size asteroid would destroy life on Earth?

Ultimately, scientists estimate that an asteroid would have to be about 96 km (60 miles) wide to completely and utterly wipe out life on our planet.

What would happen if a 9 km comet hit Earth?

Unlike smaller meteors, it will not be slowed down much by air friction. It will punch through the atmosphere like it's hardly even there. When it reaches the surface, it will smack so hard that it won't matter if it strikes ocean or land.

How likely is it for a comet to hit Earth?

The truly dangerous objects, those large enough to cause regional or global catastrophe when they hit, may appear once every few hundred thousand years. Therefore, the chance that such an object will hit us in any given year is roughly 1 in 300,000 — nothing to lose sleep over.

What is the rarest comet?

Comet Hale–Bopp

How big was the asteroid that hit Arizona?

30 to 50 meter diameter Barringer Meteor Crater and Its Environmental Effects. Forty-nine thousand years ago, a large 30 to 50 meter diameter iron asteroid impacted the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona. The resulting massive explosion excavated 175 million tons of rock, forming a crater nearly a mile wide and 570 feet deep.

Is there a comet that will hit Earth?

On average, an asteroid the size of Apophis (370 metres) is expected to impact Earth once in about 80,000 years….99942 Apophis.