Meteor rain, the stream of fire from the sky - one of the most beautiful, romantic and mysterious phenomena, which giveth us the great outdoors.Secrets of small celestial bodies, with striking regularity attacking our "blue ball" imprinted on the pages of the history of the Earth and the human immortalized in myths and legends.But the meteor rain sometimes brings a significant threat to the planet, which has repeatedly experienced meteor that caused the destruction of apocalyptic proportions.The question is not whether this will happen again, and when it will happen like a cataclysm.And will the human race is ready to handle its catastrophic consequences?
these questions may well answer the messengers of the universe - meteorites.They are a kind of "code of survival" for the human race.Meteor rain, consisting of objects, crossing not only the solar system but also thousands and millions of light-years of space, brings to Earth invaluable information about other worlds, enrich the world of science with new knowledge invaluable.The study of these "gifts of the Universe" can give us a clue to the many mysteries of the universe and our planet's place in it.Humanity has yet to decipher this message of the cosmos.
Earth, like other planets, throughout its history, been systematically subjected to "bombing" of small space objects.Often, their size is very small, and most of these "messengers of heaven", which make up the meteor rain, does not reach the surface of the planet, burning up in the atmosphere.Which creates the effect of the so-called "shooting stars."
But the evolutionary history of the Earth and knew very tangible impacts.Most meteorites fall was disastrous.The body of the planet is there a lot of "stellar wounds" - a huge crater formed as a result of cosmic collisions.One day, even the fall of a meteorite in the area of modern central Mexico reversed the earth's history, destroying the dinosaurs (and changing the face of our planet and the climate).If not for this epochal disaster, people in the world could never appear.Dominate while the giant reptile is simply not possible to develop other highly organized forms of life.
Sixty-five million years ago the Earth was quite different.Then it was much warmer than it is now.Dinosaurs were the highest form of prehistoric evolution which suddenly went in front of the stage of earth's history, giving her a place of humanity and mammals.A single meteorite, who came to us from the dark depths of space, forever changed the course of Earth's history.
asteroid belt, born two hundred million years before this landmark event was the birthplace of the object, which played a key role in the life of our planet.Billions of huge stone fragments moving through the darkness of outer space in one direction, like cars on the highway.All - except for one huge boulder, running totally different diagonal course.It was like a caravan of epic proportions eighteen kilometers wide, suddenly blocked the highway.Here I am just moving the "Caravan" at a rate of 38 thousand. Km / h.As a result of a collision with another asteroid, these two object torn into a million pieces.But one of the fragment, which was more than ten kilometers in diameter, had a special destiny ...
He was soon to meet with the third, the only habitable planet of the solar system, forever changing her story and the principles of evolution.This "space rocket" was not so alien to the world as it might seem.As the planet itself, it consisted mainly of rock and water.More precisely, from the permafrost, which turns this life-giving liquid in a space vacuum.
But inside the meteorite seething chemical cocktail of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen - key components of life.This object, apparently, and once laid the foundations of life on our planet, the crown of which at that time were the dinosaurs.As you approach the Earth, the planet's gravity broke up this "killer from outer space" to a speed of 80 thousand. Km / h.The catastrophe was inevitable, especially given the mass of the meteorite, rapidly rushing to meet with the Earth's surface.As you know, mass times acceleration equals force.
When a meteorite entered the atmosphere, friction turned him into a ball of fire, surrounded by the plasma plume.Under the influence of extremely high temperature, began to separate from him an enormous amount of molten debris.Four minutes it took him out to cross the Atlantic and attack the head or unsuspecting dinosaurs.Thus, according to modern science, it has been the most devastating and life-changing meteor rain in the history of the Earth.
