asteroid

asteroid

A small, mostly rocky body orbiting the Sun. Asteroids range in size from 1000 kilometers in diameter to tiny objects you could hold in your hand. Most asteroids orbit the Sun between Mars and Jupiter (the Asteroid belt), and are the source of most meteorites. Principal asteroids are: 1 Ceres (a dwarf planet), 2 Pallas, 3 Juno, and 4 Vesta. The majority of asteroids fall into three types: C-type (carbonaceous), S-type (silicate or stony), and M-type (metallic).

0 0

Improve it

Add an image

Part of Speech: noun
Synonym(s):
Blossary:
Industry/Domain: Astronomy
Category: Planetary science
Company: PSRD
Product:
Acronym-Abbreviation:

Collect to Blossary

Other Languages:

Related terms

asteroid (planetoid)

Astronomy; General astronomy

Also called planetoids or minor planets, the asteroids are tiny planets most of which orbit the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. The largest - and the first discovered - is Ceres, ...

Apolo asteroid

Astronomy; General astronomy

One of a small group of asteroids whose orbits intersect that of Earth. They are named for the prototype, Apollo.

Ceres

Astronomy; Planetary science

The largest of the known asteroids; a dwarf planet. Also called 1 Ceres because it was the first asteroid to be discovered (by Piazzi in 1801).

Jarkovski efekat

Astronomy; Planetary science

An explanation for the shift in an asteroid's orbit around the Sun due to a thermal thrust caused by the body's uneven heating by sunlight. The illuminated side of an asteroid ...

Viking

Astronomy; Planetary science

U. S. Mission to Mars, composed of two spacecraft, launched in 1975. Viking 1 and Viking 2 both consisted of an orbiter and a lander. Primary mission objectives were to obtain ...

sublimacija

Astronomy; Planetary science

Phase transformation from solid to gas.

Misija Stardust

Astronomy; Planetary science

The fourth in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals, Stardust was comprised of a spacecraft and capsule that completed a seven-year, ...

Solarna i heliosfericna observatorija

Astronomy; Planetary science

A project of international collaboration between ESA and NASA to study the Sun from its deep core to the outer corona and the solar wind. SOHO was launched in December, 1995. SOHO ...