Celts & Comet Impact 200 B.C.?

Palomar · 2004-10-16 10:24:53

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.as … 2519]Click

*From Astronomy magazine online. Color photos and meteorite strewnfields list.

"The Chiemgau field, which falls within an ellipse 36 miles long and 17 miles (58 by 27 kilometers) wide, holds at least 81 impact craters ranging from 10 to 1,215 feet (3 to 370 meters) in size. Many more craters may lie hidden in heavily forested areas within the ellipse, and farming activities in the region may have destroyed others...

...The growth patterns of Irish oaks slowed dramatically between a.d. 536 and 545, indicating a much cooler climate. Historical records refer to famine and a dimmed Sun during this period. Many have argued this so-called 'dust-veil event' was the aftermath of a large (0.3 mile, or 500m) comet fragment exploding high in Earth's atmosphere. To date, no craters related to such an event have been found.

However, the rings also show slowed growth around 207 b.c. Roman authors wrote about showers of stones falling from the sky and terrifying the populace..."

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2004-10-16 19:57:04

Interesting.
Though the dating of the event seems somewhat confused.
At one place in the article, they describe 480BC to 30BC as the "late Roman period", which only adds to the confusion, I think. [Rome was founded in 753BC, came of age with the defeat of Carthage in the Punic Wars between 264BC and 146BC, and probably reached the zenith of its power around AD200. 'Late Roman' would probably better describe the period between, say, AD250 and AD476, the fall of the Western Empire.]
There were apparently two growth slow-downs for trees - one in about 205BC, when stones fell from the sky, and another in the early 6th century AD.

The dating seems uncertain but the description of what it must have been like at 10 km from ground-zero is very definite! Most unpleasant.
Thanks, Cindy. It makes you wonder how often we actually get hit, and when the next one's due, doesn't it?!

Palomar · 2004-10-17 20:00:40

Interesting.
Though the dating of the event seems somewhat confused.

*Yeah, it does. But then I thought maybe it was just me. :hm:

At one place in the article, they describe 480BC to 30BC as the "late Roman period", which only adds to the confusion, I think. [Rome was founded in 753BC, came of age with the defeat of Carthage in the Punic Wars between 264BC and 146BC, and probably reached the zenith of its power around AD200. 'Late Roman' would probably better describe the period between, say, AD250 and AD476, the fall of the Western Empire.]

*You are so knowledgeable about that time period. I recall other historical references you've made to ancient Rome, etc.; very impressive.

The dating seems uncertain but the description of what it must have been like at 10 km from ground-zero is very definite! Most unpleasant.

*Yep. Reminds me of the Tunguska incident in Russia. We had a thread about that, long since buried.

It makes you wonder how often we actually get hit, and when the next one's due, doesn't it?!

*Can't help wondering how often something hits one of our massive oceans. As for land, yes...and as densely populated as Earth is getting... We may just go the way of the dinos if we can't get off this pretty little blue marble soon.

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2004-10-18 07:19:11

Cindy:-

...and as densely populated as Earth is getting...

Yes, indeed. This is the crux of the whole thing, I think. Those cometary fragments that hit Bavaria back in the Roman era probably killed a few hundred people and caused a poor harvest for a year or two. Very bad luck for the ones killed, of course, but much of the world would have carried on, relatively unperturbed.
A similar strike today, in say the corn belt of North America, would probably kill hundreds of thousands of people and adversely affect a crop on which millions more depend for their livelihood - or worse, their survival.
No doubt there'd be a generalised downturn in the financial markets and lots of people would see their life-savings wiped out before normality returned. Everything's just too interconnected,crowded, and precariously balanced these days.

We really need to get Earth's population down to much more manageable proportions if we're to stand a better chance of weathering such a blow. It's a little like being in that proverbial cinema packed with people, versus an almost empty cinema, when a rapid-burning fire breaks out. Your chances of survival are far better if you have room to move and aren't surrounded by stampeding masses who are beside themselves with terror.
I think a billion people is about right for Earth - for the above reasons relating to impacts from space, as well as about a thousand other good reasons relating to maintaining the planet's ecosystem!
Just an opinion.

[P.S. Actually I'm not really as knowledgeable about Roman history as you might think. I remember a few salient points and a handful of important dates, mainly because the period interests me. But I confess I had to look up the dates of the Punic Wars .. and not for the first time, either! :laugh:
I knew they took place round about 200BC but some dates and details just seem to slip through my neural net! Anybody know the earliest recorded age of onset of Alzheimer's Disease? ]

Shaun Barrett · 2004-10-18 18:42:00

And speaking about the threat of cometary impact ...
I thought the appearance of http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041018/ … .html]THIS ARTICLE was rather timely. Though none the less worrying for all that!

Palomar · 2004-10-18 20:59:39

And speaking about the threat of cometary impact ...
I thought the appearance of http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041018/ … .html]THIS ARTICLE was rather timely. Though none the less worrying for all that!

*Dark COMETS ??? I hate to admit this, but I'm quite sure I've never considered the possibility! Thanks for posting that article, Shaun; haven't seen this article previously.

***
The dark comets would present a major challenge to astronomers searching the skies for objects that might collide with the Earth. "They're so black you can't see the damn things," says Napier. "These things will just come out of the dark and hit you with no warning. It looks as if we're dealing with a substantial impact hazard that people haven't clicked into yet."
***

I've clicked into it now. Geepers.

Mentions they should give out a tiny glow of heat, "visible as infrared radiation. The infrared Spitzer Space Telescope, which has been operating from Earth orbit for just over a year, has not seen any dark comets. But this could be because it focuses on very small, distant parts of the sky..."

Spitzer has, IIRC, been mainly focusing on galaxies. Of course, something could always zip past the observation field. Another scientist is very skeptical dark comets exist in any great quantity; they'd have been discovered by now.

-but-

"Given the size of the Oort cloud, astronomers have calculated that there should be about 3,000 comets in these orbits, 400 times more than are actually observed."

Napier anticipates WISE will detect dark comets. Will stay tuned for sure.

--Cindy

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#1 2004-10-16 10:24:53

Re: Celts & Comet Impact 200 B.C.?

#2 2004-10-16 19:57:04

Re: Celts & Comet Impact 200 B.C.?

#3 2004-10-17 20:00:40

Re: Celts & Comet Impact 200 B.C.?

#4 2004-10-18 07:19:11

Re: Celts & Comet Impact 200 B.C.?

#5 2004-10-18 18:42:00

Re: Celts & Comet Impact 200 B.C.?

#6 2004-10-18 20:59:39

Re: Celts & Comet Impact 200 B.C.?

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