Asteroids

Science Dictionary asteroid (s't-roid') Pronunciation Key Any of numerous small, often irregularly shaped rocky bodies that orbit the Sun primarily in the asteroid belt , a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids are intermediate in size between planets and meteoroids; the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt is Ceres, approximately 1,000 km (620 mi) in diameter, while the lower limit is variously given in the tens or hundreds of meters. While more than 1,800 asteroids have been cataloged, and as many as a million or more smaller ones may exist, their total mass has been estimated to be less than three percent of the Moon's. Asteroids are thought to be left over from the early formation of the solar system, when planetesimals in a protoplanetary disk were scattered after coming under Jupiter's gravitational influence. The continuing collision of planetesimals that remained between Jupiter and Mars caused many of them to fragment, creating the asteroids that exist today. Also called minor planet , planetoid . The American Heritage Science Dictionary Copyright 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.

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asteroid
[as-tuh-roid] Show IPA noun 1. Also called minor planet. Astronomy . any of the thousands of small bodies of from 480 miles (775 km) to less than one mile (1.6 km) in diameter that revolve about the sun in orbits lying mostly between those of Mars and Jupiter. 2. Zoology . an asteroidean; a starfish. adjective 3. starlike. Origin: 17951805; < Greek asteroeids starry, starlike. See asterisk, -oid Related forms asteroidal, adjective interasteroidal, adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2014. Cite This Source | Link To asteroid Collins World English Dictionary asteroid (strd)

n 1. minor planet , Also called: planetoid any of numerous small celestial bodies that move around the sun mainly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Their diameters range from 930 kilometres (Ceres) to less than one kilometre Also called: asteroidean any echinoderm of the class Asteroidea; a starfish

2.

 adj 3. 4. of, relating to, or belonging to the class Asteroidea shaped like a star

[C19: from Greek asteroeids starlike, from astr a star] Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition

As asteroids revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits, they rotate, sometimes tumbling quite erratically. More than 150 asteroids are also known to have a small companion moon, with some having two moons. Binary or double asteroids also exist, in which two asteroids of roughly equal size orbit each other, and triple asteroid systems are known as well. Many asteroids seemingly have been captured by a planet's gravity and become moons likely candidates include among Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos and most of the distant outer moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The average temperature of the surface of a typical asteroid is minus 100 degrees F (minus 73 degrees C). Asteroids have stayed mostly unchanged for billions of years as such, research into them could reveal a great deal about the early solar system.

Classification
In addition to classifications of asteroids based on their orbits, most asteroids fall into three classes based on composition. The C-type or carbonaceous are greyish in color and are the most common, including more than 75 percent of known asteroids. They probably consist of clay and stony silicate rocks, and inhabit the main belt's outer regions. The S-type or silicaceous asteroids are greenish to reddish in color, account for about 17 percent of known asteroids, and dominate the inner asteroid belt. They appear to be made of silicate materials and nickel-iron. The M-type or metallic asteroids are reddish in color, make up most of the rest of the asteroids, and dwell in the middle region of the main belt. They seem to be made up of nickle-iron. There are many other rare types based on composition as well for instance, V-type asteroids typified by Vesta have a basaltic, volcanic crust.

Earth impacts
Ever since Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago, asteroids and comets have routinely slammed into the planet. The most dangerous asteroids are extremely rare, according to NASA. An asteroid capable of global disaster would have to be more than a quarter-mile wide. Researchers have estimated that such an impact would raise enough dust into the atmosphere to

effectively create a "nuclear winter," severely disrupting agriculture around the world. Asteroids that large strike Earth only once every 1,000 centuries on average, NASA officials say. Smaller asteroids that are believed to strike Earth every 1,000 to 10,000 years could destroy a city or cause devastating tsunamis. On Feb. 15, 2013, an asteroid slammed into the atmosphere over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, creating a shock wave that injured 1,200 people. The space rock is thought to have measured about 65 feet (20 meters) wide when it entered Earth's atmosphere. Dozens of asteroids have been classified as "potentially hazardous" by the scientists who track them. Some of these, whose orbits come close enough to Earth, could potentially be perturbed in the distant future and sent on a collision course with our planet. Scientists point out that if an asteroid is found to be on a collision course with Earth 30 or 40 years down the road, there is time to react. Though the technology would have to be developed, possibilities include exploding the object or diverting it. [Image Gallery: Potentially Dangerous Asteroids] For every known asteroid, however, there are many that have not been spotted, and shorter reaction times could prove more threatening. When an asteroid, or a part of it, crashes into Earth, it's called a meteorite. Here are typical compositions: Iron meteorites:

Iron 91 percent Nickel 8.5 percent Cobalt 0.6 percent

Stony Meteorites:

Oxygen 36 percent Iron 26 percent Silicon 18 percent Magnesium 14 percent Aluminum 1.5 percent Nickel 1.4 percent Calcium 1.3 percent

Discovery
In 1801, while making a star map, Italian priest and astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi accidentally discovered the first and largest asteroid, Ceres, orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres accounts for a quarter of all the mass of all the thousands of known asteroids in or near the main asteroid belt.

Naming
Since the International Astronomical Union is less strict on how asteroids are named when compared to other bodies, there are asteroids named after Mr. Spock of "Star Trek" and rock musician Frank Zappa as well as more solemn tributes, such as the seven asteroids named for the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia killed in 2003. Naming asteroids after pets is no longer allowed. Asteroids are also given numbers for example, 99942 Apophis.

Exploration
The first spacecraft to take close-up images of asteroids was NASA's Galileo in 1991, which also discovered the first moon to orbit an asteroid in 1994. In 2001, after NASA's NEAR spacecraft intensely studied the near-earth asteroid Eros for more than a year from orbit, mission controllers decided to try and land the spacecraft. Although it wasn't designed for landing, NEAR successfully touched down, setting the record as the first to successfully land on an asteroid. In 2006, Japan's Hayabusa became the first spacecraft to land on and take off from an asteroid. It returned to Earth in June 2010, and the samples it recovered are currently under study. NASA's Dawn mission, launched in 2007, began exploring Vesta in 2011 and is slated to explore Ceres in 2015 and will be the first spacecraft to visit either body. In 2012, a company called Planetary Resources, Inc. announced plans to eventually send a mission to a space rock to extract water and mine the asteroid for precious metals.

367943 Duende

367943 Duende, also known as 2012 DA14, is a near-Earth asteroid with an estimated diameter of 30 meters (98 ft) and an estimated mass of 40,000 metric tons. Before radar imaging, its estimated diameter was 4550 meters.[4] During its 2013 close passage, Duende passed 27,700 km (17,200 mi), or 4.3 Earth radii, from the surface of Earth.[2] This is a record close approach for a known object of this size.[2] About 16 hours before the closest approach of Duende, an asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere above Russia, which was, however, unrelated to it because it had a completely different orbit.[10][11][12]

Discovery and past risk assessments

Duende was discovered on February 23, 2012, by the Observatorio Astronmico de La Sagra, Granada Province in Spain (J75),[1] operated remotely by astronomers in Mallorca, seven days after passing 0.0174 AU (2,600,000 km; 1,620,000 mi) from Earth.[3] Based on the still relatively imprecise orbit deduced from the short arc of the 2012 observations, there was a cumulative 0.033% risk estimate (1 in 3,030) of Duende impacting Earth sometime between 2026 and 2069.[4] It was already clear that Duende would pass no closer to Earth's surface than 3.2 Earth radii during its 2013 passage.[13] Eliminating an entry on the Sentry Risk Table is a negative prediction; a prediction of where it will not be.

Orbital shift

During closest approach to Earth in 2013 the orbital period of Duende was reduced from 366 days to 317 days.[14] Its aphelion was reduced from 1.110 to 0.9917 AU, leaving it almost entirely inside Earth's orbit.

2013 passage

Diagram of Duende passing Earth on 15 February 2013

Closest approach of asteroid drawn to scale On January 9, 2013, Duende was observed again by Las Campanas Observatory and the observation arc increased from 79 days to 321 days.[15] On February 15, 2013 at 19:25 Universal Time, Duende passed 0.0002276 AU (34,050 km; 21,160 mi) from the center of Earth,[3] with an uncertainty region of about 0.0000001 AU (15 km; 9.3 mi).[3] It passed 27,743 kilometers (17,239 mi) above Earth's surface,[2] closer than satellites in geosynchronous orbit.[2] It briefly peaked at an apparent magnitude of roughly 7.2, a factor of a few fainter than would have been visible to the naked eye.[9][13] The best observation location for the closest approach was Indonesia.[2] Eastern Europe, Asia, and Australia also were well situated to observe Duende during its closest approach.[2] Duende was not expected to pass any closer than 1950 km to any satellites.[16] Goldstone Observatory observed Duende with radar from February 16 to February 20.[5][17] Radar observations have shown it to be an elongated asteroid with dimensions of 20 by 40 meters (66 by 131 feet).[18] This gives Duende a geometric mean (spherical) diameter equivalent to 28 meters (92 ft). During the close approach an observational campaign involving 5 different telescopes in 4 different observatories was carried on in order to get information on the physical properties of this NEO.[7] Visible and near-Infrared photometry, and visible spectroscopy were obtained at Gran Telescopio Canarias, Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and Calar Alto Observatory and put together. The classification using the M4AST online tool says this is an L-type asteroid those peculiar asteroids are characterized by a strongly reddish spectrum shortward of 0.8 m, and a featureless flat spectrum longward of this, with little or no concave-up curvature related to a 1 m silicon absorption band. Time-series photometry was also obtained in the Observatorio de La Hita (I95)[1] and Observatorio de Sierra Nevada during two consecutive nights (1516 February 2013). All of this data were co-fased to build a light curve of the object. This light-curve is double-peak and presents large variations in magnitude, implying a very elongated object, which is compatible with radar observations.[5] The amplitude of the light-curve yields an axial ratio that assuming a long axis of 40 m, as can be inferred from the radar images by Goldstone, results in an equivalent diameter of 18 m, much smaller than the estimations before the close-approach.

The rotational period was precisely determined from the light curve obtaining a value of 8.95 0.08 h. This value is confirmed with an analysis of all the photometry of this objects reported to the Minor Planet Center. Using data pre and post close approach the authors find that the object suffered a spin-up during the event that decreased the rotational period form 9.8 0.1 h down to 8.8 0.1, which is compatible with the more accurate value estimated form the light-curve. The close approach to Earth reduced the orbital period of Duende from 368 days to 317 days,[2][14] and perturbed it from the Apollo class to the Aten class of near-Earth asteroids.[2] Its next close approach to Earth will be on 15 February 2046 when it will pass about 0.0148 AU (2,210,000 km; 1,380,000 mi) from Earth.[3] Based on 7 radar observations, the next close approach to Earth similar to the 2013 passage will be on 16 February 2123 when Duende will pass no closer than 0.0002 AU (30,000 km; 19,000 mi) from the center of Earth.[3] For the 2123 passage, the nominal pass will be 0.003 AU (450,000 km; 280,000 mi) from the center of the Moon and then 0.005 AU (750,000 km; 460,000 mi) from the center of Earth.[3]

Risks

Two-body simulation of the Sun and Duende during the 2013 Earth approach, N-body perturbations are not considered

The uncertainty region of Duende during planetary encounters is now well determined through 2123.[3] Duende was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 16 February 2013.[19] It is estimated that there are more than a million near-Earth asteroids smaller than 100 meters.[20]

Risk assessments calculated before the 2013 passage were based on a diameter of 45 meters and a mass of 130,000 metric tons.[4] It was estimated that, if it were ever to impact Earth, it would enter the atmosphere at a speed of 12.7 km/s, would have a kinetic energy equivalent to 2.4 megatons of TNT,[4] and would produce an air burst with the equivalent of 2.1 megatons of TNT[21] at an altitude of roughly 10.1 kilometers (33,000 ft).[21] The Tunguska event has been estimated at 320 megatons.[22] Asteroids of approximately 50 meters in diameter are expected to impact Earth once every 1200 years or so.[23] Asteroids larger than 35 meters across can pose a threat to a town or city.[24] As a result of radar observations it is now known that Duende is only about 30 meters in diameter.[5] Airburst estimates for a stony asteroid with a diameter ranging from 30 to 85 meters[21] Kinetic energy at Airburst Airburst Average Diameter atmospheric entry energy altitude frequency 30 m (98 ft) 708 kt 530 kt 16.1 km (53,000 ft) 185 years 50 m (160 ft) 3.3 Mt 2.9 Mt 8.5 km (28,000 ft) 764 years 70 m (230 ft) 9 Mt 8.5 Mt 3.4 km (11,000 ft) 1900 years 85 m (279 ft) 16.1 Mt 15.6 Mt 0.435 km (1,430 ft) 3300 years The table above uses Sentry's stony asteroid density of 2600 kg/m3, Sentry's atmospheric entry velocity (Vimpact) of 12.7 km/s,[4] and an angle of 45 degrees. For kinetic energy at atmospheric entry, 3.3 Mt is equivalent to DF-4, 9 Mt is equivalent to Ivy Mike and 15.6 Mt is equivalent to Castle Bravo. For airburst energy, 530 kt is equivalent to W88 and 2.9 Mt is equivalent to R-12 Dvina

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