What would happen if a small meteorite hit the atmosphere at the speed of light?
A few days ago I was asked the following question:
Hello, what would happen if an asteroid the size of a nut or an engagement ring flew through the atmosphere of a planet, say at about 80% of the speed of light, what kind of disturbances would it cause?
Let’s figure it out together. At that speed, hitting the atmosphere would be virtually the same as hitting the surface. It will all depend on how deep the meteorite manages to sink into the atmosphere and the angle at which the impact occurs.
If an asteroid (or rather a meteoroid) passes through the upper and extremely rarefied layers of the atmosphere, we won’t notice it at all. At most we will see a flash in the sky, as from a meteoroid. Only unlike a meteor, this flash will split the sky in half for a second. The claimed size of the meteoroid is too small to seriously damage the atmosphere at this altitude.
But upon entering the lower, denser layers of the atmosphere, such as the stratosphere and troposphere, such an object will burn up completely in the atmosphere. This will release an enormous amount of energy.
