<p>An asteroid that remains outside Earth's atmosphere, and therefore does not impact Earth, will have no effect on the planet.</p>

<p>Asteroids, even biggish ones like the dinosaur killer, are pretty small compared to the Earth. They do not have enough mass to graviationally affect earth's orbit noticeably. And if they miss earth, the pass quickly. </p>

<p>The concern would be that if an asteroid can pass close to Earth, that it may collide in a future orbit. The asteroid's path will be changed by the earth's gravity. However, a very close encounter will enable astronomers to get a very high quality position on the rock, and so be able to predict its future path with very great accuracy.</p>

<p>Comet tails aren't a worry. We passed through Halley's tail in 1910, the effect on the Earth was precisely nothing. ☄</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-18T18:34:13.147Z
2016-03-18T20:16:46.507Z
2016-03-18T20:16:46.507Z
James K
<p>If an Asteroid, the size of the one that killed off the dinosaurs , passed by very close to the Earth but still remained outside of Earth's atmosphere, would it cause any damage ?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-18T09:32:06.177Z
Asteroids of such size wouldn't be certainly alone because of its gravity it would have captured small chunks of rocks along with it,so these things may collide and even can cause medium-sized craters on the planet. There is also a chance of causing destruction of life and property!!
LightSaber
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-18T10:10:19.277Z
Maybe comet tails could be a worry? [Halley's comet in 1910](http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/09/1910-the-end-of-the-world.html) caused a scare since cyanide had been found on it spectrographically. So if Earth passed through its tail it might poison Earth's atmosphere, the press feared. Maybe passage through an intense comet tail might temporarily damage the ozone layer or something. Or just give a nice harmless meteor shower show.
LocalFluff
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-19T01:43:18.163Z
@LightSaber: A 10 km-sized asteroid doesn't have nearly enough mass to capture gravitationally anything. Even at its surface, the gravitational attraction is 0.01 m s$^{-2}$.
pela
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-27T17:02:51.503Z
It might take out some spy sats and the ISS on the way through, but there's not enough gravity from one of those things to cause trouble at the surface. Big chunk of metal *might* disturb the magnetosphere.
Wayfaring Stranger
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-28T02:43:55.380Z
@Peter U: click on this [link](http://www.academia.edu/3107986/The_Earth_s_Gravity_Field_Components_of_the_Differences_Between_Gravity_Disturbances_and_Gravity_Anomalies)
user6760
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-28T03:08:05.673Z
Many pairs of underwear would be ruined. Much damage, much destruction.
GingerBeard
<asteroids>
damage from an Asteroid
Peter U
# damage from an Asteroid

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-03-27)

If an Asteroid, the size of the one that killed off the dinosaurs , passed by very close to the Earth but still remained outside of Earth's atmosphere, would it cause any damage ?

**Tags:** asteroids

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: It might take out some spy sats and the ISS on the way through, but there's not enough gravity from one of those things to cause trouble at the surface. Big chunk of metal *might* disturb the magnetosphere.  
> **username_5**: @username_0: click on this [link](http://www.academia.edu/3107986/The_Earth_s_Gravity_Field_Components_of_the_Differences_Between_Gravity_Disturbances_and_Gravity_Anomalies)  
> **username_6**: Many pairs of underwear would be ruined. Much damage, much destruction.  
> **username_1**: Asteroids of such size wouldn't be certainly alone because of its gravity it would have captured small chunks of rocks along with it,so these things may collide and even can cause medium-sized craters on the planet. There is also a chance of causing destruction of life and property!!  
> **username_2**: Maybe comet tails could be a worry? [Halley's comet in 1910](http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/09/1910-the-end-of-the-world.html) caused a scare since cyanide had been found on it spectrographically. So if Earth passed through its tail it might poison Earth's atmosphere, the press feared. Maybe passage through an intense comet tail might temporarily damage the ozone layer or something. Or just give a nice harmless meteor shower show.  
> **username_3**: @username_1: A 10 km-sized asteroid doesn't have nearly enough mass to capture gravitationally anything. Even at its surface, the gravitational attraction is 0.01 m s$^{-2}$.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2016-03-18. Score: 1

An asteroid that remains outside Earth's atmosphere, and therefore does not impact Earth, will have no effect on the planet.

Asteroids, even biggish ones like the dinosaur killer, are pretty small compared to the Earth. They do not have enough mass to graviationally affect earth's orbit noticeably. And if they miss earth, the pass quickly.

The concern would be that if an asteroid can pass close to Earth, that it may collide in a future orbit. The asteroid's path will be changed by the earth's gravity. However, a very close encounter will enable astronomers to get a very high quality position on the rock, and so be able to predict its future path with very great accuracy.

Comet tails aren't a worry. We passed through Halley's tail in 1910, the effect on the Earth was precisely nothing. ☄


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