I've heard this referred to as the "Cytherean Impact". If anyone had known about this back in the 50's, I can only wonder how many movie aliens would have come from "lost Tellus/Cytherea" instead of the planet that blew up to become the asteroid belt.
(Sorry, I've been on a bit of a Fifties Sci-Fi kick since watching several of the classic Toho SF films of the period).
The name "Cytherian impact" sounds like it would pertain to Venus rather than a proto Earth. Venus has a bit of an odd rotation, but models of it make it seem at least plausible without an impact.
I've heard suggestions -- from strange sources, but that may descrive me as well ];-) -- that Mercury was created from a similar impact with Venus. I have not seen good support for that.
Hey, if you want bizarre theories, there's one to the effect that our Moon is actually a six billion year old alien spaceship (!) and that when JFK found out this secret, that's why the Hidden Government killed him in Dallas. That theory was promulgated by the same guy who wrote the JFK conspiracy book that Oliver Stone used for his movie... I wonder why Ollie isn't using it for a sequel?
From the things I've seen of this theory there's some debate as to the age of the planet(oids) in question. It would be interesting to find evidence of an obviously failed attempt to jump to Venus or Mars by prior inhabitants.
Then again there's nothing to say that they didn't make it out to space and then hibernate until the planet was habitable again. :P
I've always liked the idea that the asteroid belt was the result of a shattered planet but the general theory is that there isn't enough mass out there to support that theory.
It would be interesting to find evidence of an obviously failed attempt to jump to Venus or Mars by prior inhabitants.
Ah, yes, I'd agree. If you listen to the radio late at night, it seems that such things have been found. ];-)
But considering the timeframes, we're probably talking about the very beginnings of replicating molecules at most (and more likely nothing at all yet), and they are not likely to be a spacefaring society.
Ah, yes, I'd agree. If you listen to the radio late at night, it seems that such things have been found. ];-)
We talking what used to be the Art Bell show?
These days they're running Conspiracy Theories on how the Swine Flu was a deliberate engineered bioweapon by Powerful Forces (TM) to: (1) genocide Mexicans and all non-Caucasians, (2) force a Reichstag Fire for The Final Phase of the International Bankers'/Global Elite's Plan, (3) cull the sheeple down to a proper number of serfs, or (4) all of the above. In great detail.
Very interesting!! To some degree that sounds like some of the more apocalyptic scenes from some of "Doc" Smith's novels. 'Twill be most interesting to see what those two spacedraft find.
That picture reminded me of "When Worlds Collide" & "After Worlds Collide" -- old science fiction that I devoured in the back of a van while my family drove to Wyoming.
One of the things that impresses me so much about physics is how rarely a collision is just a collision. Add a great deal more mass or more speed and you end up with an interaction that ends up being rather unlike what your experience tells you a collision looks like.
And the chances are that it was not "head on" as implied by the image, but at some sort of angle that would have contributed to the nature and amount of the "splash."
There are still aspects that we don't quite have right, suggesting (at least) that the mechanics of such collisions are still not being well modeled.
One of the counter-intuitive things about such collisions is the effect of the atmosphere on the object. Even the Earth's relatively thin blanket of air is enough to cause objects even tens of meters across to explode violently just from the abrupt slowdown.
On Venus, the meteor crater scars are interesting, because Venus is so thick that there are almost no craters smaller than about forty kilometers across. Anything smaller than that generally explodes far above the ground.
Compare this to the Moon, where there are innumerable meteor craters that are tiny fractions of an inch.
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(Sorry, I've been on a bit of a Fifties Sci-Fi kick since watching several of the classic Toho SF films of the period).
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The name "Cytherian impact" sounds like it would pertain to Venus rather than a proto Earth. Venus has a bit of an odd rotation, but models of it make it seem at least plausible without an impact.
I've heard suggestions -- from strange sources, but that may descrive me as well ];-) -- that Mercury was created from a similar impact with Venus. I have not seen good support for that.
===|=============/ Level Head
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Then again there's nothing to say that they didn't make it out to space and then hibernate until the planet was habitable again. :P
I've always liked the idea that the asteroid belt was the result of a shattered planet but the general theory is that there isn't enough mass out there to support that theory.
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Ah, yes, I'd agree. If you listen to the radio late at night, it seems that such things have been found. ];-)
But considering the timeframes, we're probably talking about the very beginnings of replicating molecules at most (and more likely nothing at all yet), and they are not likely to be a spacefaring society.
===|==============/ Level Head
Reply
We talking what used to be the Art Bell show?
These days they're running Conspiracy Theories on how the Swine Flu was a deliberate engineered bioweapon by Powerful Forces (TM) to:
(1) genocide Mexicans and all non-Caucasians,
(2) force a Reichstag Fire for The Final Phase of the International Bankers'/Global Elite's Plan,
(3) cull the sheeple down to a proper number of serfs, or
(4) all of the above.
In great detail.
Reply
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I wonder what Douglas Adams would posit. Maybe a large alien spitball.
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One of the things that impresses me so much about physics is how rarely a collision is just a collision. Add a great deal more mass or more speed and you end up with an interaction that ends up being rather unlike what your experience tells you a collision looks like.
Reply
There are still aspects that we don't quite have right, suggesting (at least) that the mechanics of such collisions are still not being well modeled.
===|==============/ Level Head
Reply
On Venus, the meteor crater scars are interesting, because Venus is so thick that there are almost no craters smaller than about forty kilometers across. Anything smaller than that generally explodes far above the ground.
Compare this to the Moon, where there are innumerable meteor craters that are tiny fractions of an inch.
===|==============/ Level Head
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