In fact, scientists have discovered the trace of "catamaran asteroid" hitting the earth. For example, the impact crater near Hudson Bay in Canada is thought to be caused by two asteroids, which was formed about 290 million years ago and is a "double crater". Similar craters still exist. The researchers found that about one out of every 50 impact craters on the earth is a "double crater" that appears in pairs. It is an unsolved mystery that two very close asteroids hit the earth almost at the same time. It is also common for catamarans to be far away from the earth. Catalina, a scientist at the Institute of Geophysics in Paris, France, said: "According to the survey data of asteroids, 15% of near-earth asteroids have catamarans.
Similarly, there are some' double craters' in the total number of impact craters on the earth, but why is the actual number so low? Catalina and her colleagues found through computer simulation that catamarans often form a large crater when they hit the earth. According to this theory, the impact crater is usually 10 times the diameter of the asteroid. The research team found that the unusual example of impact crater involved two asteroids with smaller diameter and larger distance. Through further simulation, the researchers raised a question: Why do the craters formed by this "catamaran" only account for 2% of all craters on the earth?
Scientists believe that this implies that catamarans hit the earth more frequently, much more than the number of double craters. This study is helpful for the future study of dangerous near-earth asteroids. The mystery of the origin of some single impact craters on the earth was simulated or discovered. These impact craters came from the impact of "catamaran asteroids". These craters have special asymmetric structures, such as Chicxulubo crater in Mexico. Researchers believe that the asteroid that formed this crater led to the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. This is a very competitive example, which contains an important asymmetric structure, so it can be included in the ranks of "catamarans".
Peter, a scientist from Czech and China Academy of Sciences, thinks that chicxulub crater is different from other craters. Through the latest gravity anomaly investigation, it is found that the crater is probably caused by a catamaran asteroid. Why is chicxulub crater thought to be caused by the collision of two very close asteroids? Mirikovs believes that this crater has a diameter of 180km and a tiny special structure in appearance, which indicates that it may have been hit by two asteroids with a diameter of 7 to 10km.
For a long time, people have questioned whether catamarans can form a single crater. Jean-Luc margot, a scientist from UCLA, said, "This new study is based on accurate analysis. If catamarans can form a single crater, then there are more catamarans hidden in the total number of craters on the earth. " This news is bad news for the asteroid defense system. In addition to increasing the difficulty of finding asteroids that hit the orbit, it also increases the difficulty of intercepting asteroids. It is necessary to deflect the orbits of two asteroids at the same time and ensure that their new orbits will not be threatened twice.
In recent years, asteroids with high risk index in Turin have attracted great attention. Through the efforts of scientists, a monitoring network of all-day asteroid orbits has been established, and discussions on how to deflect asteroids that hit the orbit have begun. Katrina of the Institute of Geophysics in Paris, France, believes that I am not sure whether the device that deflects the asteroid's orbit can resist two asteroids at the same time, or that they are a weapon system. Allen Harris, a researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, believes that nuclear attack can only be used against some small asteroids, and it needs to exert greater recoil on large asteroids to effectively deflect their orbits.
So the extinction of dinosaurs doesn't mean that the earth is a laboratory.