Hazards of a Cosmic Collision
by Joseph Anthony Torres
Manila Science High School

Since our solar system was formed, the hazard of Earth's collision with another heavenly body may cause widespread chaos to our planet. It was theorized that Earth collided with an asteroid causes the extinction of the dinosaurs. It was said that the asteroid caused dust to rise to the atmosphere and covered the sky making the whole planet dark, which caused the plants to die for they were not receiving sunlight. The death of plants consequently caused the death of the reptiles.

It was mentioned that an asteroid or comet at least one mile in diameter that might hit Earth may produce an explosion more than 10 times devastating than a nuclear fission bomb. However, the most devastating effect will be the change in the global weather, as theorized, similar to what happened during the age of the reptiles.

The latest collision happened on the 16th up to the 20th of July, when the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and the planet Jupiter collided with each other. Shoemaker-Levy 9 was broken into 21 fragments. This collision left large scars on the Jovian surface, but did not do a lot of damage, for the planet was too big and dense. The collision did not cause much holocaust to tear the giant planet down, but astronomers say that a comet as big as fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 will completely devastate the region it first hits. In the worst scenario, the comet might not be broken into 21 fragments for our planet has not enough gravity to tear the comet and it will be hammering our planet in its full size.

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