Concept in Definition ABC

The concept that concerns us in this review has a use excluding in the field of astronomy, which is the science that deals with studying the composition of the stars, the positions and the movements that they carry out.

Astronomy: minor body of the solar system, or small planet, rocky in appearance and orbiting the sun

While a asteroid it's a minor body of Solar system, with rocky characteristics, smaller in size than a planet, orbiting the sun in an orbit inside that of Neptune.

But in addition to the difference in size, asteroids differ from planets by their shapes, since in the case of the aforementioned they are They are characterized by being spherical due to the great mass they have, while in the case of asteroids the shapes they can adopt are the most various.

Also, asteroids are called planetoids or minor planets, because that is exactly what they are, little planets.

Meanwhile, most of the asteroids that belong to our solar system have semi-stable orbits between Mars and Jupiter, making up what is known as

asteroid belt or main belt, the region of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and which is home to a multitude of asteroids, although there are some that are deflected into orbits that cross those of the planets greater.

Discovery and naming

At the beginning of XIX century, more precisely in the year 1801, the astronomer Italian Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the asteroid or minor planet Ceres; Piazzi's discovery was followed by many more and so much so that today the existence of approximately two million asteroids.

If one looks at an asteroid from the ground, it has the same appearance than a star and it has been precisely because of this situation that they have been called that way, since in Greek asteroid refers star figure; the person responsible for such a name was the English mathematician and astronomer John Herschel, who gave them that name shortly after being spotted.

The closest asteroids to our planet earth are: Love, the asteroids Apollo and Aten.

Scientific interest and concern for a collision with the earth

Today and always there was a great interest on the part of astronomical science in terms of knowing more and more about these bodies, meanwhile, today that desire has been increasing and this led to the creation of various programs that are precisely oriented to discover the asteroids that inhabit our solar system and especially those that walk near our planet.

Meanwhile, this interest in knowing those asteroids that pass close to the earth also has a scientific objective, a control objective as a consequence that There is the possibility that some of these bodies may collide with our planet, so it is preferable to keep them in sight and monitored to prevent such an event happen.

There is a permanent control of their trajectories, their distances and lists are made periodically of those that are closest and can cause a collision.

Events of this type have already occurred in our past, and many even attribute the disappearance of the famous dinosaurs of our earth to collide with an asteroid that made them literally disappear.

The size of these bodies is considerable and therefore, a collision with our planet could have devastating consequences for life that exists today.

Although the chances of this happening are remote and millions of years may pass, it is a reality that must be paid attention to, not to stop monitoring and that is why it is It is important to take into account the positions that these bodies observe with respect to the earth, basically because they are elements that are not harmless but rather because of the contrary…

Asteroid Topics