Warning: If you haven't watched the movie and intend to, the article contains spoilers!
1-Could the Earth end in a scenario similar to the events of Don't Look Up?
2-Can a comet destroy the earth?
NASA describes comets as giant space snowballs. They are made of ice, dust, and rocks, and are leftovers that have formed since the formation of the solar system.
According to NASA, there are about 3,743 documented comets, although there are billions of them hovering in space.
On average, a comet is a few miles across, about the size of an average golf course. However, as it heads toward the sun, the ice melts, and the vapors from a cloud around the comet. This could increase its size to 50,000 miles (80 kilometers)!
Now, imagine something this big moving at thousands of miles per hour, bound to collide with the Earth. Definitely will not stay on the planet One Piece! is not it?
Even dropping a basketball 10 stories high can lower the roof of a car, so it's not hard to believe that frozen rocks weighing thousands of kilograms are capable of destroying the earth!
3-Can Comet Debassky in Don't Look Up Destroy Earth?
The fictional comet Debassky in the film was 8-10 kilometers wide, was traveling at Earth at a speed of thousands of miles per hour, and was scheduled to hit Earth 6 months and 14 days after its discovery.
This time was enough for the comet to gain momentum, as its kinetic energy will be enormous, and after it hits the Earth, the energy will be released.
When the script was written, the director hired astronomer Dr. Amy Mainzer as a scientific advisor to the actors and writers.
Dr. Mainzer works at the University of Arizona and is one of the world's top scientists in the field of asteroid discovery.
Dr. Mainzer believes that this kind of threat to Earth-level extinction, no matter how rare, still exists.
It was even based on a comet called NEOWISE that her team discovered similar to the fictional comet Debussy. But don't panic, Comet NEOWISE is not on a collision course with Earth.
Comet Dibaskey is similar to the comet that wiped out the dinosaurs, so it's correct to assume that the comet could also wipe out humans.
To put that in perspective, NASA states that asteroids larger than 140 meters (>0.1 miles) are large enough to cause significant damage. Dibaskey's comet was 5.5 miles wide!
When Comet Debassky hit the Pacific Ocean, it sent a powerful wave across the Earth that destroyed everything in its path. Thanks to the high levels of air resistance, the comet, and its subsoils also burned up as it penetrated the atmosphere.
This caused a significant increase in the comet's temperature. Upon impact, it caused everything on the Earth's crust to burn, essentially killing all life on the planet.
4-What kind of damage can a comet cause?
Hundreds of comets have hit Earth over the past years, but humanity has survived those shocks. That's because not all comets can destroy the Earth; In fact, some of them hardly cause any harm!
The factors that determine the severity of the damage inflicted are its size, speed, and weight.
Based on this information, the extent of the damage inflicted can be calculated. For comets as small as a few meters in size, they will burn up in the atmosphere before they reach Earth.
Large comets produce shock waves upon impact. This would send ripples to the ground. If a large comet landed in the ocean, it could cause a tsunami or massive tsunami.
So for physical damage, there is another side to damage. The heat the comet brings with it is extremely high, enough to burn oxygen in the atmosphere.
Besides, there will be radiation carried by the comet that can disable all electronic devices, such as electromagnetic pulse.
After impact, all debris and dust will pollute the air, making it unbreathable.
These are just the initial effects only!
Not only is the comet impact life-threatening, but the secondary effects of the impact continue to be life-threatening.
There will be big fires spreading across the land, as shown in the movie. Very large comets will burn up all the oxygen in the atmosphere as they pass, draining it and changing the nature of our atmosphere.
The air damage would be enormous in such cases. Large comets may also cause large dust clouds to cover the Earth's surface, blocking all sunlight for months or years! The land will become completely barren.
In short, comets and nuclear bombs cause similar types of damage and will have similar results.
6-Last word...
The fear of comets hitting Earth dates back to 1705 when astronomer Edmund Halley expressed his fears. However, the odds of a person dying from a comet are the same as the odds of dying from a plane crash or flood.
However, as Dr. Mainzer notes, the "Don't Look Up" extinction scenario is unlikely.
And if that happens, there are countermeasures in place. As shown in the movie, NASA's Planetary Defense Division is very real.
There is a special protocol to handle in such cases, such as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which can alter the course of the incoming asteroid.
Even rockets can be launched at small comets/asteroids to break them up into smaller pieces that pose no or little threat.