Maps: NASA Blue Marble, Black Marble, LRO, MESSENGER, Cassini, New Horizons · Mars: NASA/JPL/USGS Viking mosaic, relief from MGS MOLA (NASA/GSFC, 6x vertical exaggeration) · Jupiter: Hubble OPAL 2019, NASA, ESA, A. Simon (GSFC), M.H. Wong (UC Berkeley) (CC BY 4.0), enhanced colour · Sun's limb: NASA/SDO AIA 304 Å · Sun, Saturn, Saturn's rings, Uranus, Neptune, clouds, relief: Solar System Scope (CC BY 4.0) · Moons and small worlds: NASA/JPL/USGS; Io, Ganymede, Titan, Triton via CelestiaContent (CC BY, Askaniy Anpilogov et al.); Mimas, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Ceres, Vesta via Stellarium (CC BY 4.0, Oleg Pluton, FarGetaNik) · Bennu, Ryugu, Itokawa, Eros, Arrokoth: shape models NASA PDS / OSIRIS-REx / NEAR / New Horizons (CC0), Ryugu ISAS/JAXA (CC BY 4.0); maps via CelestiaContent (Askaniy Anpilogov, Roman Tkachenko; Stooke, NASA PDS; CC BY) · Positions of the Sun, Moon and planets: JPL DE440 ephemeris (Park et al. 2021, NASA/JPL), 1800-2100; moons: orbits fitted to JPL Horizons (satellite ephemerides JUP365, SAT441, URA184, NEP098, MAR099, PLU060); other orbits: JPL, Minor Planet Center; asteroids and comets: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database (via KStars) · Spacecraft trajectories: NASA/JPL Horizons · Rotation: IAU WGCCRE · Data: NASA NSSDC
Space Simulator
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Asteroid Impact Simulator: what if an asteroid hit here?
Pick an asteroid, from the 19-metre Chelyabinsk meteor to the 10-kilometre rock that ended the dinosaurs, and a place on Earth. The simulator works out whether it explodes in the air or digs a crater, how big the fireball is, how far the heat burns and the blast wave flattens houses and breaks windows, the earthquake and the ocean wave, and counts the people who live inside each ring. The numbers come from the published scaling laws of Collins, Melosh and Marcus (2005); the map is NASA satellite imagery; the list of asteroids passing Earth these weeks comes live from NASA/JPL.
What would happen if an asteroid hit my city?
It depends mostly on size. A 20 m rock explodes high in the air and breaks windows, like Chelyabinsk in 2013. A 60 m one can flatten a city-sized area, like Tunguska in 1908. A 1 km asteroid devastates a country, and a 10 km one changes the climate of the whole planet. Choose a size and your city above to see the rings.
Will an asteroid hit Earth soon?
No known asteroid is a real threat for at least the next 100 years. Apophis, 340 m across, will pass about 32,000 km from the Earth's surface on 13 April 2029, closer than some satellites, and will miss. The list on this page shows the real asteroids passing in the next 60 days and how far away they stay.
How big was the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs?
About 10 km across. It hit what is now Chicxulub, Mexico, 66 million years ago at around 20 km/s and left a crater some 180 km wide. Use the "Dinosaur killer" button to replay it.
How accurate is this simulator?
It uses the same published equations as the Earth Impact Effects Program by Collins, Melosh and Marcus (2005). They are estimates good to a factor of a few: real results depend on the ground, the weather and the exact make-up of the asteroid. The number of people comes from the European Commission's GHS-POP 2025 population grid.