Related topics: earth , solar system , comet , meteorite
Asteroid
hideAsteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, especially in the inner Solar System; they are smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids. The term "asteroid" has historically been applied primarily to bodies in the inner Solar System since the outer Solar System was poorly known when it came into common usage. The distinction between asteroids and comets is made on visual appearance: Comets show a perceptible coma while asteroids do not.
For more information about Asteroid, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with asteroid
Close-up photos of dying star show our sun's fate (w/ Video)
Dec 15, 2009 |
5 / 5 (21) |
5
(PhysOrg.com) -- About 550 light-years from Earth, a star like our Sun is writhing in its death throes. Chi Cygni has swollen in size to become a red giant star so large that it would swallow every planet ...
WISE satellite blasts off on space-map mission
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 14, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
4
NASA launched Monday a new breed of satellite called WISE on a mission to orbit Earth and map the skies to find elusive cosmic objects, including potentially dangerous asteroids.
Superior Super Earths
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 30, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (55) |
15
Super Earths are named for their size, but these planets - which range from about 2 to 10 Earth masses - could be superior to the Earth when it comes to sustaining life. They could also provide an answer to ...
New aluminum-water rocket propellant promising for future space missions
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 07, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (21) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers are developing a new type of rocket propellant made of a frozen mixture of water and "nanoscale aluminum" powder that is more environmentally friendly than conventional propellants ...
Study of first high-resolution images of Pallas confirms asteroid is actually a protoplanet
Oct 12, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (22) |
7
(PhysOrg.com) -- Britney E. Schmidt, a UCLA doctoral student in the department of Earth and space sciences, wasn't sure what she'd glean from images of the asteroid Pallas taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. ...
Researchers make rare meteorite find using new camera network in Australian desert
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 17, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (19) |
4
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have discovered an unusual kind of meteorite in the Western Australian desert and have uncovered where in the Solar System it came from, in a very rare finding published today ...
How to Make a Planet: Spitzer Spots Clump of Swirling Planetary Material
Sep 23, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (6) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers have witnessed odd behavior around a young star. Something, perhaps another star or a planet, appears to be pushing a clump of planet-forming material around. The observations, ...
First view of Earth as Rosetta approaches home
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 12, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (6) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- This spectacular image of our home planet was captured by the OSIRIS instrument on ESA's Rosetta comet chaser earlier today as the spacecraft approached Earth for the third and final swingby. ...
California's Channel Islands hold evidence of Clovis-age comets
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 20, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (14) |
5
A 17-member team has found what may be the smoking gun of a much-debated proposal that a cosmic impact about 12,900 years ago ripped through North America and drove multiple species into extinction.
WISE Launch Scheduled for Dec. 11
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 04, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Launch of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is scheduled for Dec. 11.
Unusual meteorite found by time-lapse camera observatory
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 05, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (15) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- An unusual meteorite with an interesting orbit has been tracked to the ground using a photographic observatory that records time-lapse images of fireballs traveling across the sky.
Scientists Find Asteroids Are Missing, and Possibly Why
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Feb 25, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (20) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- The patterns of missing asteroids are like the footprints of wandering giant planets preserved in the asteroid belt.
Space rock gives Earth a close shave
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 03, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (16) |
6
An asteroid of a similar size to a rock that exploded above Siberia in 1908 with the force of a thousand atomic bombs whizzed close past Earth on Monday, astronomers said on Tuesday.
Solar systems around dead Suns?
Apr 20, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (15) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- Using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers have found that at least 1 in 100 white dwarf stars show evidence of orbiting asteroids and rocky planets, suggesting ...
A Tale of Planetary Woe (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 11, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (11) |
5
Once upon a time — roughly four billion years ago — Mars was warm and wet, much like Earth. Liquid water flowed on the Martian surface in long rivers that emptied into shallow seas. A thick atmosphere blanketed ...
