Breakup of a long-period comet as the origin of the dinosaur extinction

[Oxytropidoceras]

Astronomers: A comet fragment, not an asteroid, killed off the dinosaurs

Jupiter's gravity pushed comet toward Sun; comet was ripped apart by tidal forces.

Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, February 15, 2021

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/02/astronomers-a-comet-fragment-not-an-asteroid-killed-off-the-dinosaurs/

 

The open access paper is:

 

Siraj, A. and Loeb, A., Breakup of a Long-Period Comet

as the Origin of the Dinosaur Extinction.

Scientific Reports volume 11, Article number: 3803 (2021)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-82320-2

https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/SLD.pdf

 

Keep warm and safe out there

 

Paul H.

 

[IsaacTheFossilMan]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. Will add them to the pile to read