What happens when an asteroid hits Mercury?
A collision with an asteroid might have set the planet Mercury whirling oddly in its orbit, a new study suggests. The most stable arrangement they can reach is to keep just one side always facing the body they are orbiting. Such “tidal locking” is why our moon always keeps the same face pointed toward Earth.
What would happen to the Earth if Mercury was destroyed?
Such an impact would kill all life on our planet. Nothing would survive. By contrast, the asteroid that doomed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was likely just 6 miles in diameter; Mercury is 3,032 miles across. The last time an object about that size hit the Earth, the resulting debris formed our Moon.
When did an asteroid hit Mercury?
On December 21, 2013, as MESSENGER glided over Mercury’s sunward side, one of its instruments — the Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer (FIPS) — saw something strange: an unusually large number of sodium and silicon ions blowing in the Sun’s solar wind, a powerful gale that spews charged gases from the Sun.
What happens when an asteroid hits a planet?
The more energy is released, the more damage is likely to occur on the ground due to the environmental effects triggered by the impact. Such effects can be shock waves, heat radiation, the formation of craters with associated earthquakes, and tsunamis if water bodies are hit.
What are 5 facts about Mercury?
Facts about Mercury
- Mercury does not have any moons or rings.
- Mercury is the smallest planet.
- Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.
- Your weight on Mercury would be 38\% of your weight on Earth.
- A solar day on the surface of Mercury lasts 176 Earth days.
- A year on Mercury takes 88 Earth days.
Why isn’t Mercury pulled into the sun?
Mercury, like the other planets, is in a stable orbit around the Sun. A planet’s orbit is a geodesic through curved spacetime. A geodesic being the 4 dimensional equivalent of a straight line. So, Mercury is unlikely to fall into the Sun.