If so, we are indeed very lucky to observe an event, which happens every 100 000 years or so.
OTOH, I’ve conclude, that it is in fact less likely for a planet to be hit by a random comet than it is for a big massless balloon of the same size, to be hit by the same comet.
Why is that? Roughly speaking, if the comet is heading toward some future geometric meeting point, the planet will accelerate it by its own gravity and the comet will come too early and therefore flies by. It’s a very narrow set of circumstances for an actual collision to take place.
A bit counter intuitive but it explains why we have so few actual collisions, despite of the heavy traffic. Collisions do happen, but less often than a random chance would suggest. The gravity protects us mostly.
If so, we are indeed very lucky to observe an event, which happens every 100 000 years or so.
OTOH, I’ve conclude, that it is in fact less likely for a planet to be hit by a random comet than it is for a big massless balloon of the same size, to be hit by the same comet.
Why is that? Roughly speaking, if the comet is heading toward some future geometric meeting point, the planet will accelerate it by its own gravity and the comet will come too early and therefore flies by. It’s a very narrow set of circumstances for an actual collision to take place.
A bit counter intuitive but it explains why we have so few actual collisions, despite of the heavy traffic. Collisions do happen, but less often than a random chance would suggest. The gravity protects us mostly.