CALIFORNIA - Forget the big asteroids threatening Earth's shadow like in the movie "Armageddon". Residents of the earth would have to be wary of smaller asteroids.Asteroids that have a smaller size may explode in the atmosphere of the earth.
According to scientists, the space rock that exploded (airburst) in 1908 in the Siberian Tunguska and far more threatening. Such objects may hit the earth every 12 years.
Danger of explosion the asteroid became the talk of the Space 2010 conference last September in California, USA.
Physicist Mark Boslough of Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque said, "We do not yet know the physical airburst, and research about it has never done."
According to airburst the existing model, Boslough mention this blast of high heat release and creating a huge explosion wind to touch the ground.
"We really have to think about little things," he said.
In addition, asteroids are large enough and successful entry into Earth's atmosphere before exploding will create a hissing gas that can burn anything.
Vegetation will be vaporized and melted rock, in short, the explosion was terrible. A similar situation had occurred 30 million years ago in the deserts of Libya, said Boslough.
Statistically, the possibility of a large object hit the earth becomes smaller with the many small asteroids are found.
"There are many small objects, so we should make more telescopes," he said.
If these small objects found "We have no choice but to accept the blow," he said.
Director of the Center for Orbital Debris Studies and reentry Bill Ailor said, "We always talk about a huge asteroid, and we made it through the threat.
However, a small asteroid continues to be a threat and the challenge is what we'll do. "
Likewise, manager of the Near-Earth Object Program Office of NASA, Don Yeomans at the Jet Propulsion Labolatory Pasadena, California said, "We can detect a huge asteroid, yet still very far to small to detect."
"We must find them before they find us."
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