The possible catastrophic eruption of supervolcanoes is not the only cataclysmic problem that mankind needs to be concerned about right now. Present in our solar system are thousands of rocks of various sizes flying around in space and from time to time some of them have actually crashed into planet earth. There are huge craters in South Africa (Morokweng Crater), Nenetsia, Russia (Kara Crater), Yucatan, Mexico (Chicxulub Crater), and Siberia, Russia (Popigai Crater). According to scientists, these huge depressions on the earth’s surface were formed eons of time ago when gigantic meteorites (some as large as Mount Everest) struck the planet. Approximately 61,000 meteorites hit our planet each year or 17 each day. Some of these impacts were so monstrous that they calamitously led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Most times meteorites are seen as shooting stars or brilliant beams of light racing across the sky. However, many of them are so large that they could snuff out all life on our planet.
Asteroids, orbit the sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Comets are snowballs made of frozen gases, rock, and dust. They orbit the Sun and when they get too close they start to melt. This releases a giant cloud of dust and gas that can be larger than most planets. There are approximately 3000 comets in our solar system. The Chelyabinsk Meteorite exploded over Russia in February of 2013. It had a diameter of 17 meters. It was relatively small compared to others but the impact caused a lot of damage. There was an accompanying explosion that had the kinetic energy equivalent of 500,000 tons of TNT. That’s about 30 times as powerful as the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. twelve hundred people were injured and an enormous amount of property damage was caused. Of all the objects that could collide with us, Omuamua has one of the more interesting shapes. This rocky, cigar-shaped object is about 400 meters in length. NASA classifies it as a comet. But it also exhibits traits of an asteroid. It has no apparent attachment to any star system. Therefore we don’t know where in space it originated. In 2017 it passed planet earth at a distance of 41 million kilometers. While we were safe from the impact on that occasion, it could have resulted in a lot of destruction. If this interstellar guest crashed into earth, darkness would cover our planet. If the dust and debris stayed in the atmosphere for a long time. It would kill many plants, animals, and humans that depend on the sun.
Bennu is not only an asteroid that we should worry about; it is the asteroid that should really concern us. It has a 1 in 1700 chance of colliding with our planet in September of the year 2182. At only 0.5 kilometers wide it’s relatively small. But remember how significant the Chelyabinsk impact was? With that in mind, you might be somewhat nervous. Since it makes a close approach to Earth every six years. Shoemaker Levy-9 has no chance of ever hitting the earth since it already collided with Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system in 1994. But you can just imagine the destruction this 2 km comet would have caused on our home turf. It broke into twenty pieces as a result of Jupiter’s gravity. The collisions from these fragments were so powerful, that they were similar to the detonations of about 300 million atomic bombs. Plumes of debris shot as high as 3000 km and the atmosphere heated to scorching temperatures of 30,000 to 40,000 degrees Centigrade. The world is pretty relieved that Shoemaker-Levy 9, never hit us. It is also interesting to note that the planets of our solar system are arranged in such a way that they all act as barricades to protect the planet Earth from unwelcome intruders that would otherwise crash into us and destroy all life in our world.
Last but not least is an asteroid so big that technically it’s classified as a dwarf planet called Ceres. It’s the largest object in the asteroid belt. In fact, it makes up about 25% of the belt’s total mass. The radius of Ceres is 476 km (296 miles). That size makes it over 60 times larger than our ancient friend Chicxulub. If Ceres collided with the earth there wouldn’t just be devastation. There would be no earth. The size of Ceres alone would block out the sun as it approached, and then the impact would remove 10 Km (6 miles) of the earth’s crust. Hypersonic shock waves would ripple across the globe. Everything in its path would be incinerated and leveled. Nothing would stand a chance of surviving. Our planet would essentially turn into a glowing ball of fire and melted rock. If by some miracle or secret underground bunker some people survived. They wouldn’t last long. Soot in the atmosphere would result in something like a nuclear winter.
Are we to assume that all of these sobering realities are the result of blind coincidence? That it is a mere chance that these asteroids and comets threateningly approach our world from time to time but turn away at the last moment sparing us the threatened catastrophe. Because all life on this planet can be wiped out at any time were it not for the fact that an invisible hand continues to guide us through space. As we read in scripture,
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in… “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.” Isaiah 40: 21-22, 25-26.
Because The Lord All Mighty is merciful and gracious we have much to be thankful for.
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