• Question: what would happen if Haley's comet hit earth?

    • Keywords:
      • Royal Society of Chemistry: Find out more about:
      Asked by y'ight to Alex, Anaïs, Peter, Sarwat, Shreesha on 10 Mar 2015.
      • Photo: Anaïs Pujol

        Anaïs Pujol answered on 10 Mar 2015:

        Haley comet has the same direction. It is a comet in orbit to the sun so the direction will not change or really tiny. We are also in orbit to the sun and our direction depend of the gravity of the sun on the earth. So there is really tiny chance that will happen. Hayley comet comes back every 75 years. Next time to see it in 2061.

      • Photo: Sarwat Iqbal

        Sarwat Iqbal answered on 10 Mar 2015:

        Halley’s comet is an orbit which crosses earth’s. There is a chance that at some point in future it may hit earth. Earth passed through the tail of Halley’s Comet in 1910 without any ill effects. I don’t think something will happen if they strike earth.

      • Photo: Alexander Henderson

        Alexander Henderson answered on 10 Mar 2015:

        Depends how massive the comet is. A lot of comets / meteors lose most of their mass burning up in the atmosphere. If they make it through the atmosphere they can crash into the surface causing craters. Haley’s comet is much more massive than Chelyabinsk meteor which landed in Russia in 2014 – which caused a small amount of damage. However, it is very unlikely Haley’s comet will hit Earth.

      • Photo: Peter Maskell

        Peter Maskell answered on 10 Mar 2015:

        devastation.

      • Photo: Shreesha Bhat

        Shreesha Bhat answered on 13 Mar 2015:

        Well, depends on how much of the comet hits the earth. if its just a part of it, the damage would be negligible, but if its a huge chunk of it, then be ready for some action. But Scientists will know in advance if it will really hit, and can take required precautionary measures against such an event.

    Comments