[meteorite-list] Comet smashes triggered ancient famine ???

From: lebofsky at lpl.arizona.edu <lebofsky_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:47:11 -0700 (MST)
Message-ID: <50668.71.226.60.25.1231631231.squirrel_at_timber.lpl.arizona.edu>

While I have not read this book, generally, comets cannot hit the Earth
over a short interval like SL9. SL9 was in orbit around Jupiter. It is
highly unlikely that a comet could be captured in orbit around Earth.
Continuous bombardment on Earth only happens in movies unless there is a
massive swarm of objects (like in a meteor shower).

The Earth is a moving target, so if one comet piece were to hit the Earth,
it is unlikely that a second or third one in a similar orbit would hit,
unless the cluster was VERY bunched together. The Earth would be long
gone!

The Earth's orbital velocity is about 30 km/s and its diameter is about
12,750 km. So the Earth moves its diameter in about 425 seconds. If the
comet pieces were farther apart than that, only one piece would hit.

Larry

On Sat, January 10, 2009 4:06 pm, Rob McCafferty wrote:
> This is not a new idea. Mike Baille's book "Exodus to Arthur" makes
> interesting reading on the idea that comets may have triggered many human
> catastrophies in the past. His book is based on dendochronology with
> support from other sources. At the time of publishing c.2000, there was a
> gap in the Greenland Ice core during the 6th Century.
>
> The first third of the book is compelling reading but for me does little
> to convince me that it was anything other than volcanic eruptions. The
> latter part of the book is based on written accounts, myths and legends
> to make a the suggestion that clusters of small comets may have been
> involved, small fragments arriving in short interval like SL9 did on
> Jupiter in 1994.
> He's as objective as he can be but is clearly convinced of the cometary
> contribution in at least a few cases.
>
> Rob McC
>
>
>
> --- On Fri, 1/9/09, tracy latimer <daistiho at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>> From: tracy latimer <daistiho at hotmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Comet smashes triggered ancient famine ???
>> To: "Paul" <bristolia at yahoo.com>, meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> Date: Friday, January 9, 2009, 7:15 PM
>>
>>> From what little research I did, I had understood that a
>>>
>> substantial chunk of the sun-blotting fog was actually 'vog', which
>> outgassed from major eruptions in Iceland. Iceland underwent several
>> periods of volcanic activity during the 'Dark Ages', where multiple
>> volcanic vents burped out stifling clouds of gas. The gas periodically
>> got so thick and noxious that it poisoned vegetation, killed animals,
>> and sickened almost everyone else; there was at least one major exodus
>> of survivors around 770 a.c.e.
>>
>> Tracy Latimer
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------
>>
>>> Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2009 07:12:59 -0800
>>> From: bristolia at yahoo.com
>>> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>>> Subject: [meteorite-list] Comet smashes triggered
>>>
>> ancient famine ???
>>>
>>> Comet smashes triggered ancient famine
>>> January 7, 2009 by Ker Than
>>>
>>>
>> http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126882.900-comet-smashes-trigge
>> red-ancient-famine.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news
>>>
>>> Abbott, D. H., P. Biscaye, J. Cole-Dai, and D. Breger,
>>>
>> 2008,
>>
>>> Magnetite and Silicate Spherules from the GISP2 Core
>>>
>> at the 536 A.D. Horizon
>>> American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008,
>>>
>> abstract #PP41B-1454
>>>
>>>
>> http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/SFgate/SFgate?&listenv=table&multiple=1&rang
>> e=1&directget=1&application=fm08&database=%2Fdata%2Fepubs%2Fwais%2Finde
>> xes%2Ffm08%2Ffm08&maxhits=200&=%22PP41B-1454%22
>>>
>>> and
>>>
>>> http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008AGUFMPP41B1454A
>>>
>>>
>>> Yours,
>>>
>>>
>>> Paul H.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>
>
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Received on Sat 10 Jan 2009 06:47:11 PM PST