Comet Hazard to the Earth

Abstract

Migration of trans-Neptunian objects to the Earth is considered. Due to the gravitational influence of large trans-Neptunian objects and mutual collisions, some objects can get such orbits, from which they can be moved inside the Solar System under the gravitational influence of planets. About 10-20% or even more 1-km Earth-crossers could have come from the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt and can move in Jupiter-crossing orbits. The number of former trans-Neptunian objects that cross the Earth's orbit moving in orbits with aphelia inside Jupiter's orbit can be of the same order of magnitude. A total mass of icy planetesimals delivered to the Earth during formation of the giant planets can be about the mass of the Earth's oceans.