In the news recently (back at the end of March), astronomers began to hypothesize (running simulations and doing extensive calculations) about what would happen if Comet 2013 A1 were to hit mars. Right now, this 1 to 3 km in diameter (the nucleus size) comet has a roughly 1 in 2000 chance of impacting Mars. If the impact were to happen, it would likely occur in October of 2014. (Here is a link to an interesting video about the possible collision)
The article goes on to discuss that if the impact did occur, it wouldn’t destroy Mars; however, Mars would undergo a severe climate change due to the impact. This would start with the kicking up of a lot of Martian dust, sand, water, and debris into the general atmosphere. This could affect some of the technology we currently have on Mars because their ability to use solar panels would greatly decrease. Additionally, Mars would also have a reshaping of its terrain in the general area of this collision that would greatly affect the Mars we know today.
Interestingly enough even a near collision could have drastic implications (as the article notes). The comet’s gaseous tail could interact with Mar’s atmosphere and surface. Such an interaction could help scientists get a better feel for the types of chemicals that exist in Mar’s atmosphere (even though we know a lot already). Furthermore, we could get luck and see Martian auroras—an unlikely event because Mars only has small magnetized-pockets. Keeping all of these possibilities in mind, this potential collision raises some interesting ideas for what such a collision (or even a near-miss) could tell us.
Beyond the simple information that I was able to take from the article, this source was a fun one for me to write about for my final blog entry because it caused me to reflect on how I look at the universe now. In general, I have much more confidence when I consider different elements of the universe. In reading this article for instance, I wasn’t bogged down in understanding the basic terminology because I had already mastered that from the course. This allowed me to focus on thinking critically about implications of this article. For instance, I have begun to wonder about how having water in the atmosphere would affect the surface of Mars when the debris from this collision eventually settles down.
At the end of the day however, this article bridged many different areas of study that we have gone through this semester (collisions, atmospheres on other worlds, planets, comets, etc.). I have really enjoyed becoming more knowledgeable about our Solar System because it has allowed me to better understand different scientific articles that I have subsequently read.
Source for this post: Collision Course?
