Science & Tech · Space · 12 hrs ago
Asteroid shape and blast direction could affect nuclear deflection
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories simulated how nuclear-blast X-rays could deflect asteroids.
The idea is to use radiation from an explosion to heat an asteroid’s surface and push it onto a safer path.
Real asteroids have uneven, irregular shapes, unlike the smooth spheres often used in earlier computer models.
The direction of the X-ray burst made a major difference in simulations, changing one asteroid’s speed by 3.9 millimeters per second from one direction and 0.8 from another.
For another simulated asteroid, the change in spin varied by a factor of 17 depending on where the X-rays hit.
The team developed a faster model that can account for realistic shapes while calculating the physical effects in detail.
Knowing an asteroid’s shape and choosing where to aim could be crucial if this method is considered for protecting Earth from a future impact.
A new study found that an asteroid’s shape and the direction of an X-ray burst could strongly affect how much a nuclear blast changes its motion.
In one simulation, the asteroid’s speed changed by 3.9 millimeters per second from one direction and 0.8 millimeters per second from another.
For another simulated asteroid, the effect on its rotation varied by a factor of 17 depending on the X-ray direction.
The researchers developed a faster model that can simulate irregular asteroid shapes and detailed physical forces.
The findings suggest that understanding an asteroid’s shape and choosing where to direct a blast could be important for preventing a future impact.
- Who
- Nathan Moore, a physicist at Sandia National Laboratories, led the research with colleagues.
- What
- The study found that asteroid shape and X-ray direction can affect how a nuclear blast changes an asteroid’s motion and rotation.
- When
- The study was published in Icarus; the publication date is not stated.
- Where
- The research was conducted at Sandia National Laboratories.
- Why
- The researchers aimed to improve predictions of how a nuclear blast could deflect an asteroid.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
An experiment using Sandia’s Z machine provided the first demonstration that X-rays could deflect a small piece of asteroid material.
Nathan Moore and colleagues developed a model to study how realistic asteroid shapes respond to an X-ray burst.
ScienceDaily published an article reporting the study’s findings.
- Speed change, one direction
- 3.9 millimeters per second
- Speed change, another direction
- 0.8 millimeters per second
- Rotation effect
- Varied by a factor of 17 depending on X-ray direction
- Model speed
- The new algorithm is over 1,600 times faster
- Study journal
- Icarus
What people are saying
We expected aim to matter
What surprised us was how much
Our new algorithm is over 1,600 times faster, which was critical to this breakthrough