In a new study, scientists have shown that the late Cretaceous mass extinction event could send dinosaur carcasses as far as the Moon and Mars. Chances are, if we look closely, we will find their bones on these two planets.
About 65 million years ago, a meteorite about 10km wide crashed at super-fast speed to Earth and caused the late Cretaceous mass extinction event. In addition, this event is also known as Chicxulub and the impact crater has a diameter of more than 180km.
The fossils of dinosaurs found are often difficult to keep intact. (Illustration).
With that terrifying destructive power, this meteorite made 17% of families, 50% of genera, 75% of species extinct and ended the era of dinosaur dominance. However, it opened the way for the development of many species of mammals, birds, reptiles.
To this day, the fossils of dinosaurs found are often difficult to keep intact. Although a few still retain the necessary structures, these are only fossils deep in the thick rock or ice.
According to scientists, humans can find fossils, dinosaur bones not only on Earth but also on the Moon or Mars. Because, the collision of a giant meteorite with Earth can cause a few dinosaurs to splash up to these two planets.
To better understand this, we need to know that, if an object large enough and fast collides with another larger object such as a 10km wide meteorite that collides with the Earth, it can create fragments. Small fragments reach a speed of 11.2km/s and bring them out of the law of universal gravitation out of the Earth’s atmosphere. This means that it is entirely possible that a small number of dinosaurs will be ejected into space if they are close to the impact.
While most will fall back to Earth, a few will be swept out into space and landed on satellites, the Moon and Mars. In addition, it is also important to know that, at a time about 65 million years ago, the Moon was much closer to the Earth than it is now. So it’s possible that within seconds, the carcasses of some dinosaurs could land on the Moon.
Huge asteroid impact crater on Earth’s surface.
In his book The Ends of the World , astronomer Peter Brannen explains that: “The meteorite that hit the Earth moved with such tremendous speed that when the asteroid collided with the Earth, in the sky. where there should be air, but the rock has punched an extraterrestrial vacuum in the atmosphere. As objects plunge to close the hole, Earth’s enormous mass is ejected into orbit and beyond – all within a second or two of impact.”