answersLogoWhite

0

Asteroids

Asteroids, or planetoids, are rocks larger than meteorites but smaller than planets that orbit around the Sun.

1,071 Questions

What planet is big as an asteroid?

None. Even the smallest planets are larger than the largest asteroids.

How does friction affect a meteor?

When a meteor enters the earth's atmosphere, friction with the air generates enormous amounts of heat, which causes the meteor to at least partially burn up.

Are the asteroids in the Asteroid Belt always moving?

Yes, asteroids in the Asteroid Belt are constantly moving due to the gravitational interactions among them and the influence of the Sun's gravity. Their orbits may change over time due to the gravitational pulls of nearby planets or other asteroids.

Why isn't Cruithne a moon?

It's not a moon because it doesn't orbit a planet, it directly orbits the Sun. It's basically an asteroid which is orbiting the Sun in an eccentric orbit that occasionally takes it near Earth. Cruithne's orbital period is slightly less than that of Earth, so on average the Earth is currently "following" Cruithne around the Sun, with Cruithne pulling slightly ahead each year.By about 80 years from now, it will be so far ahead that it's on pretty much the opposite side of the Sun from us, and then will be "following" Earth in its orbit, slowly catching up to us until about 2300 AD, when the Earth's gravity will push Cruithne into a slightly more distant orbit so that its orbital period becomes slightly MORE than a year, at which point it will start falling behind more and more each year until Earth catches up to it again in another 380 years and shoves it a little CLOSER to the Sun, speeding it up again and starting the whole chase over.

From Earth's point of view, Cruithne appears to be "orbiting" a point in empty space in a sort of bean-shaped orbit. This isn't really the case (Cruithne is orbiting the Sun in an elliptical orbit, just like we are), it's just how Cruithne's path appears from Earth.

What are the effects on the environment from an asteroid?

It depends on the mass and composition. It could have no effect at all to total extinction of all life.

What are the names of the asteroids that cross Earth's orbit and Jupiter's orbit?

  1. Main Belt asteroids -- a band of asteroids located in the "missing planet" gap between Mars and Jupiter. None of these are economically attractive in a near term program because they are too far from Earth.
  2. Amor asteroids -- asteroids whose orbits approach but do not cross Earth orbit, and whose orbits are further from the Sun than Earth's orbit (i.e., "outside-t" Earth orbit). Many have orbits which reside entirely between Earth and Mars. Some of these are economically attractive in the near term.
  3. Apollo asteroids -- asteroids whose orbits cross Earth's orbit. Apollo asteroids spend most of their time outside Earth orbit. Many of these are economically attractive in the near term.
  4. Aten asteroids -- asteroids whose orbits cross Earth's orbit. Unlike Apollos, Atens spend most of their time inside Earth orbit. A large percentage of known Atens are economically attractive in the near term.

Why is important that the high levels of iridium was found to be present in the cretaceous-theory in other parts of the world?

I know of no such thing as the 'Cretaceous-theory'!

However you probably mean the The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, which occurred approximately 65.5 million years ago.

If this is the case then, the theory regarding this is that, a comet or asteroid (an impactor) hit the Earth at this point and caused the extinction event.

Impactors frequently contain levels of the element iridium not found in normal Earth rocks, and a worldwide distributed spike in the iridium content of a specific geological layer would seem to support the fact that an impactor had a global affect.

However please note, that while much is made of the impactor theory for the extinction of the dinosaurs, the most recent geological research seems to prove definitively that dinosaurs were present on the planet for some hundreds of thousands of years after the iridium spike and thus, while the impactor certainly happened, it is not directly responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs.

See the related link below.

What kind asteroid properties can be measured or estimated from the Earth?

Unfortunately, not many. We can accurately measure its location and orbit, by watching the object for several months or years. We can make a good guess of its size, based on the brightness, since we know the distance pretty accurately. We can calculate the composition of the surface based on the spectrum of light that we see.

A couple of things that are very difficult to determine from here are the mass and density of the object. We can calculate these very accurately if the asteroid has a satellite, or if we send a space probe there to orbit the object. We've done that only for a very few asteroids.

Did H Hargrove ever do paintings for a company called Artistic Interiors?

He sold his paintings through "Artistic Impressions". Last time I googled, they still sell his paintings. They do home demonstrations.

How will the world be when the asteroid falls on earth?

Which asteroid? depending on its size, an asteroid impact could be devastating for life on Earth, though life would recover somehow eventually.

What is the difference between a meteoroid and an asteroid?

Asteroid: elatively small, inactive body, composed of rock, carbon or metal, which is orbiting the Sun. Comet: A relatively small, sometimes active object, which is composed of dirt and ices. Comets are characterised by dust and gas tails when in proximity to the Sun. Far from the Sun it is difficult to distinguish an asteroid from a comet. Meteoroid: A small particle from an asteroid or comet orbiting he Sun. Meteor:A meteoroid that is observed as it burns up in the Earth's atmosphere - a shooting star. Meteorite: A meteoroid that survives its passage through the Earth's atmosphere and impacts the Earth's surface.
A meteoroid is a meteor that hits earth and is recorded, a meteor just keeps orbiting, and orbiting the sun

Why does an asteroid turn into a fireball?

If it enters a planet's atmosphere it can heat up and start to burn and turn into a fireball.

Why do scientists believe the asteroid belt is in its present location?

The asteroid belt is a ring of scattered space rock located between the orbits of mars and Jupiter, the reason why it is in it's current location is because the gas giant Jupiter's massive gravitational pull prevents the space rocks from colliding together and creating a planet. It is the left over material from when the solar system was forming that was unable to form into planets.

What movie is about preventing an asteroid from hitting the Earth?

"Meteor" (1979). Stars Sean Connery, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Martin Landau, Trevor Howard, Henry Fonda.

Technically this is a comet film: "Deep Impact" (1998). Stars Robert Duvall, Morgan Freeman, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximilian Schell, James Cromwell, Jon Favreau, Mary McCormack, Leelee Sobieski.

Technically this is an asteroid film: "Armageddon" (1998). Stars Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Steve Buscemi, Owen Wilson.

Is there an asteroid that is 300000 miles long?

No. And even then, something that large would not be conisdered an asteroid. Such an object would be more than 3 times the diameter of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system.

Which is most likely to be a more frequent visitor of earth a comet or an asteroid why?

An asteroid, because the orbits of the asteroids are nearer to the earth than the comets.

Is an asteroid surrounded by hydrogen clouds?

No, it does not have enough mass to hold any "atmosphere".

Do asteroid images become blurry due to outgassing as the Sun heats them up?

Yes, asteroid images can become blurry due to outgassing as they are heated by the Sun. When an asteroid's surface warms, volatile materials may sublimate, creating gas and dust that can obscure the asteroid's features. This outgassing can lead to a temporary hazy appearance in images captured by telescopes, affecting the clarity and resolution of the observations.

Why are scientists concerned about near-Earth asteroids?

Asteroids, even very large ones, actually come close to earth regularly and cause no harm and no effect on life on earth. The concern would be a large asteroid crashing into the earth.