Earth Sciences 1086F/G Lecture Notes - Near-Earth Object, Ordinary Chondrite, 253 Mathilde
20 Apr 2014
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Document Summary
Asteroids are primordial objects left over from the formation of the solar system. Asteroids are the last remains of the planetismals that built the planets 4. 6 billion years ago. Small, complex with irregular shapes and heavily cratered surfaces. Asteroids discovered in the gap between mars and jupiter known as the main asteroid. Asteroids are spread over such a large volume that it would be highly improbable that you could see one from another. After nearly 5 billion years, belt population bears little resemblance to the original one. Late 18th century astronomers were organized to search the sky for a missing planet predicted by the titius-bode law. In the first few years, 4 asteroids were discovered. By 1891 astronomers were using successive photographs to look for the tell-tale streaks of asteroids moving across the field of view. Estimated that there are between 750,000-1. 7 million asteroids in the main aasteroid belt that are larger than 1 km in diameter.
