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How difficult would this project be
How difficult would it be to make a program that calculates how much of an asteroid/meteor would burn up in the atmosphere or if it would make it to earth given the size and speed ( or just hardcode the average speed of any given asteroid/meteor) of the object. I've been contemplating this ever since i saw a shooting star a while ago, but i know there are a looot of variables at play and things that would needed to be researched. Like the density of the atmosphere per square foot/meter, how hot that object would get in said atmosphere given how fast it would be traveling and how much would burn off per second/minute. I know this project is most likely way above my skills as i've only been coding for a year but i just wanna see how it would work.
I believe there's a closed-form expression capable of computing this. In other words, that this is computable in a fixed number of steps without decisions or iterations.
Assuming an object of random shape and uncontrolled angular momentum (e.g. the space shuttle and the Apollo command module would not count), the most important factors would be:
* Density. A lighter object would lose more mass than a denser object traveling at the same speed. The calculation is more complicated if you don't assume uniform density. This is probably a rational function over density.
* Angle of incidence. An object moving in a perpendicular path to the surface travels through less atmosphere than one moving in a more oblique path. The amount of atmosphere is k0 + k1*cos(theta), where theta=pi/2 is perpendicular and k0 and k1 are empirical.
* Speed. This is probably a U-shaped function. A very slow object would lose no mass before reaching terminal velocity (humans jumping from planes can typically reach terminal velocity), while an extremely fast object would likely not have enough time to heat up before impacting or leaving the atmosphere. Drag is proportional to exp(-altitude) (the proportion is an empirical constant), and total heat energy gained is probably the integral of that (exp() has a closed form integral) multiplied by units of time -- which depends on angle of incidence and speed -- multiplied by another empirical constant.
I would guess that's enough to have a rough estimate.
Assuming an object of random shape and uncontrolled angular momentum (e.g. the space shuttle and the Apollo command module would not count), the most important factors would be:
* Density. A lighter object would lose more mass than a denser object traveling at the same speed. The calculation is more complicated if you don't assume uniform density. This is probably a rational function over density.
* Angle of incidence. An object moving in a perpendicular path to the surface travels through less atmosphere than one moving in a more oblique path. The amount of atmosphere is k0 + k1*cos(theta), where theta=pi/2 is perpendicular and k0 and k1 are empirical.
* Speed. This is probably a U-shaped function. A very slow object would lose no mass before reaching terminal velocity (humans jumping from planes can typically reach terminal velocity), while an extremely fast object would likely not have enough time to heat up before impacting or leaving the atmosphere. Drag is proportional to exp(-altitude) (the proportion is an empirical constant), and total heat energy gained is probably the integral of that (exp() has a closed form integral) multiplied by units of time -- which depends on angle of incidence and speed -- multiplied by another empirical constant.
I would guess that's enough to have a rough estimate.
The following papers may be of some value to you, if only in giving you an idea of the general nature of the modeling involved:
"The Dynamics of Bolide Entry and Fragmentation in the Earth's Atmosphere," Dmitri Pavlichin (2007). http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2007/ph210/pavlichin1/
"The Fragmentation of Small Asteroids in the Atmosphere," Hills, Goda (1992). http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1993AJ....105.1114H
"The Dynamics of Bolide Entry and Fragmentation in the Earth's Atmosphere," Dmitri Pavlichin (2007). http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2007/ph210/pavlichin1/
"The Fragmentation of Small Asteroids in the Atmosphere," Hills, Goda (1992). http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1993AJ....105.1114H
Thanks guys, i definitely have to give this a lot of thought and plan it out for a while before even attempting to put it into lines haha.
well they have super computers do the weather so..
http://weather.about.com/od/hurricaneformation/f/How-Supercomputers-Help-Forecasters.htm
just an idea of how crazy things can get.
http://weather.about.com/od/hurricaneformation/f/How-Supercomputers-Help-Forecasters.htm
just an idea of how crazy things can get.
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