Has a comet landed on the earth?

Answer 1

Yes. Some comets die spectacular deaths, like Shoemaker-Levy 9, which crashed into Jupiter. Some just break up and continue in their orbits. We often find "meteor showers" when the orbit of the Earth intersects the orbit of a comet.

Answer 2

Comets do not "land" on Earth since they are fast-moving objects in space. However, fragments of comets, known as meteoroids, can enter Earth's atmosphere and sometimes reach the surface as meteorites.

Answer 3

Crash would be a more appropriate word. Yes, it can.

Crash would be a more appropriate word. Yes, it can.

Crash would be a more appropriate word. Yes, it can.

Crash would be a more appropriate word. Yes, it can.

Answer 4

Absolutely YES. Comets can and have hit earth.

1stly some of the water on the earth today came from comets. Evidence says that Earth had water when it formed. From about 178 million years after it formed there is evidence of large scale water on the planet. This could not come from cometary impact. However when you analyse ancient water isotopes do not match exactly water around today. This must mean that a percentage must have come from extraterrestrial sources.

2ndly cometary impact is not unprecedented in recorded history. The comet Shoemaker Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter in 1994 proving that comets can and do hit planets. Scientist believed that in 1908 a comet or ice asteroid blew up over Tunguska in Russia with the force of 30 MTons of TNT. The lack of rock from the object make scientist inclined to think it more likely a comet or cometary fragment.

Answer 5

No. They can, however, pass between the earth and the moon.

_____________________________

Not typically; comets are normally millions of miles from Earth. But every now and then, comets CAN collide with the Earth, with sometimes catastrophic results. And as a comet follows its orbital path around the Sun, the comet can shed dust that eventually fills up the comet's path. When the Earth passes through the comet's path, we experience "meteor showers".

Answer 6

Yes. Every periodic meteor shower happens when the Earth passes through the orbit of a comet, usually an extinct one.

But also keep in mind that good astronomical records only go back about 500 years, and even half-way decent records go back only two thousand years - and a lot of those are probably in ancient Chinese manuscripts that have never been translated or published. The Earth has been around for 4.5 BILLION years. There are a lot of long-term comets that we don't know about yet.

And new comets drop by every once in a while, and eventually one will fall into the solar system on a path that will intersect the Earth's orbit. Eventually, we'll be hit... again.

Answer 7

A comet could concievably pass close enough to the earth to be pulled in by its gravity. We would experience as a meteor or meteorite

Answer 8

As it travels it eventually begins to melt and then the melted part forms a tail as it orbits the sun. Eventually the entire comet melts and dies out.

Answer 9

Yes, and in the past 4 billion years, it has almost certainly happened a couple of times. And in the next 4 billion years, it may again.

Answer 10

Crash would be a more appropriate word. Yes, it can.