Earth’s gravitational forces can tear dangerous asteroids to shreds

Every year many asteroids approach the Earth at a distance smaller than the distance to the Moon, but catastrophic collisions are extremely rare. A new study conducted by experts from Sweden’s Luleå University of Technology suggests that our planet has some kind of defense system in the form of its powerful gravitational forces, and it is this system that copes with dangerous celestial bodies.

Researchers have been searching for years for near-Earth asteroids that have been blown to pieces, but they have been unable to detect them. According to scientists, any fragments that form in this way blend into the background so quickly that it is simply impossible to identify the family of such asteroids.