Re: Hitting planets with comets

>>	So... let's apply what you said to planets... Mmmm... planet
cannot 
>>move... so we track a hugh asteriod to drop on the planets.... we
should 
>>get the same effect as nuclear winter or ice age on earth(If I am
wrong 
>>feel free to correct me.). Therefor, planet is not really defendable 
>>either... (I think some body else mentioned drop a hugh rock on
planets 
>>too.) 
>	 To get an idea of just how bad it would really be to be hit by
a
>comet read the original story on the subject, Lucifer's Hammer.  You'll
find
>it in many book stores with Niven's other work in the Science Fiction
section.

To get some real visuals (okay, of a gas giant, but you'll get the idea
in
a moment), see also the 1994 Jupiter/Comet Shoemaker-Levy Encounter at:

    http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/Comet/Comet_6.html

There are a number of good GIF images here.

I would direct your attention to the G impact site. The inner diameter
of
the outer ring is a bit more than 7,400 miles across - nearly the size
of
Earth. The thinner, inner ring is 'only' 4,600 miles in diameter.

Any questions?

Mk
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