4
$\begingroup$

The question is about a foreign object, ranging from an asteroid to a spaceship. How large does it have to be in order for its presence to start messing with the weather patterns, causing the like of hurricanes and twisters to appear?

And as an add on to this question, at what size does it go from causing an atmospheric event to a geological one without touching the ground.

| improve this question | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ Clearly, the larger the object, the worse the atmospheric effects. Even a sand grain can cause something in its immediate vicinity. Where do you put the line between something that is a atmospheric event in your view, and something that isn't? $\endgroup$ – Gimelist Jul 31 '18 at 4:16
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ atmosphere is a caotic system. there is a said saying the flutter of a fly can cause a storm. $\endgroup$ – user12525 Jul 31 '18 at 6:32
  • $\begingroup$ Hurricanes and twisters have very specific dynamics that create them. Perhaps the rising motion portion of the inertially driven wave due to something big entering the atmosphere quickly could spark some storms, which in just the right atmosphere, might spawn a tornado. Or if the entry brought a massive amount of heat into the troposphere by itself (or by impact with Earth), it could spark thermal circulations and moistening/lift? (such impacts also are seen from wildfires/volcanoes) But I don't particularly envision tornadoes and hurricanes typically from such happenings, no matter how big. $\endgroup$ – JeopardyTempest Jul 31 '18 at 6:39
  • $\begingroup$ Pretty sure this is more of a question of speed than size, but I'd need a specific magnitude of event that you were considering to make a confident answer. The only effect an atmospheric entry is going to have is to cause at atmospheric shockwave, or not, this may cause localised precipitation but it's unlikely to create wind events.. $\endgroup$ – Ash Jul 31 '18 at 18:57
  • $\begingroup$ To add more details. It for a 2 grid space ship classification system I'm working on for a rule system. The idea was to use earth as the base and set a range of different size classification what the mass of the ship would do to it. As such I don't have a set mass in mind. $\endgroup$ – Hezine Jul 31 '18 at 20:25

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.