It’s not the mass or size of an object, it’s the speed at which it travels. This experiment, obviously simulated, demonstrates this by telling what would happen to the Earth if hit by a simple needle that moves at the speed of light.
The results would be simply catastrophic. Fortunately, so far, an object with mass is not capable of reaching the speed of light. However, we must be prepared when this milestone is achieved, as the dangers are unimaginable.
The people at Astro Rural, Instagram geniuses who always share curious space content, publish an animation that shows what would happen to the Earth if it was hit by a needle at the speed of light.
The scientific concept explains to us that if a needle were to fall from space traveling at the speed of light, it would cause catastrophic damage to the Earth. The object would have kinetic energy equivalent to that of a 100-ton object falling from a height of 15 stories.
This is enough to cause a large crater and a shock wave that could cause damage over a wide area. More specifically, the kinetic energy of the needle would be approximately 10^19 joules. This is equivalent to the energy of a 1 megaton nuclear bomb.
The needle would heat up to extremely high temperatures due to friction with the atmosphere. It would vaporize into the air, creating a fireball that could cause fires and property damage.
The shock wave from the needle would be so powerful that it could cause structural damage to buildings and other structures. It could also cause injury or even death to people in the path of the wave.