Lecture 5: Rocks in space: asteroids, comets and meteors

Further reading

• Alan Taylor has put together a beautiful image of "All (known) Bodies in the Solar System Larger than 200 Miles in Diameter" (now including a new metric version with everything larger than 320 km in diameter) at http://www.greater-san-antonio.com/kokogiakcom/solarsystembodieslargerthan200miles. Because this was made in 2007, some of the dwarf planets, like Haumea and Makemake, still have their provisional designations.
• Mike Brown's list of dwarf planets http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/dps.html
• If you'd like to plot the orbits of solar system bodies, including comets and asteroids, try "Solar System Live" by John Walker, http://www.fourmilab.ch/solar/solar.html
• You can use "Solar System Live" to plot comets and asteroids as well. Orbital elements of comets can be found at the IAU: Minor Planet Center "Minor Planet & Comet Ephemeris Service" page http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/MPEph/MPEph.html. For instance, you can find the orbital elements for comet Halley by entering 1P/Halley. Select "MPC 8-line" as the "Format for elements output", and cut and paste the orbital elements directly into the Solar System Live site, then press "Update" to see where the comet is now. Thus it's easy to see that, although it's only 31 years after its last perihelion, and there are 44 years until the next one, Halley is past Neptune's orbit, nearly at aphelion: this is an excellent illustration of Kepler's second law. To get side on views, change the Heliocentric latitude to 0 degrees and the longitude to 90 degrees.
• There's a list of binary asteroids at "Asteroids with Satellites" by Wm. Robert Johnston, http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/asteroidmoons.html
• The Earth Impact Database http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/ lists every confirmed impact crater known.
• The home page of the Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is at http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/
• The home page for the Rosetta mission is at http://sci.esa.int/rosetta/
• If you need to report a meteor fireball, there's an on-line report form at the International Meteor Organisation's page, http://www.imo.net/fireball
• NASA has an information site on Earth impact hazards at "Asteroid and Comet Impact Hazards", http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/; see also the "Near Earth Object Program: Current Risks" http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/
• The Impact Calculator at http://simulator.down2earth.eu/index.html allows you to simulate smashing an asteroid into Earth and see how big a crater your asteroid made. You even get to choose which city you crash into (though unfortunately (!) Sydney is not on the list).
• There is a list of all minor planets and asteroids predicted to approach within 0.2 AU of the Earth during the next 33 years at the IAU Minor Planet Center, "Forthcoming Close Approaches To The Earth", http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/CloseApp.html
• The BBC has a news story about 2008 TC3, the asteroid that hit Sudan, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7964891.stm
• A list of currently known meteorites with orbits is at http://www.meteoriteorbits.info/
• There's an article on "The saga of Asteroid 2004 MN4" at http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=154
• The Association of Space Explorers (ASE), the international organization of astronauts and cosmonauts, is leading the effort to develop a UN treaty and other international mechanisms about asteroid deflection. Their report is available on-line athttp://www.space-explorers.org/ATACGR.pdf; it contains a good discussion of the issues involved.

Source for images

• Asteroid cover picture: Galileo image of asteroid 951 Gaspra, from APOD 2002 October 27 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap021027.html
• Moon and asteroids: from Alan Taylor's "All (known) Bodies in the Solar System Larger than 200 Miles in Diameter", http://www.greater-san-antonio.com/kokogiakcom/solarsystembodieslargerthan200miles
• Asteroids visited by spacecraft: montage by Emily Lakdawalla, from http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/small-bodies/asteroids-and-comets-color-2012.html
• Asteroid orbits: from "Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy!" by Thomas T. Arny, Fig. 10.4 http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/astronomy/arny/instructor/graphics/ch10/1004.html
• NEAR trajectory: from NEAR Mission Profile at the NASA Planetary Missions site http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/mission/near/near_traj.html
• Eros animations: from NEAR Eros Animations http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/mission/near/near_eros_anim.html
• Kirkwood gaps: from "Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy!" by Thomas T. Arny, Fig. 10.7 http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/astronomy/arny/instructor/graphics/ch10/1007.html
• Differentiation: from "Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy!" by Thomas T. Arny, Fig. 10.6 http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/astronomy/arny/instructor/graphics/ch10/1006.html
• Moon-Ceres-Vesta comparison: from "Vesta in perspective", https://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/vesta_in_perspective.asp
• Asteroid shapes: Mathilde, Gaspra, and Ida, from Astronomy Picture of the Day March 13, 1998 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap980313.html
• Mathilde flyby: NEAR images: animation and video http://near.jhuapl.edu/Images/.Anim.html
• Dawn mission image: from https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures_archive.php?year=2016&month=7; orbit, from https://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/journal_09_27_17.html
• Ceres/Vesta size comparison: image credit NASA/JPL, from https://www.universetoday.com/121807/the-dwarf-planet-ceres/
• Animation and model of Vesta: from the Hubble News Center Archive http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/1997/27/
• Vesta compared: from http://www.sciencemag.org/content/336/6082/684.figures-only
• Rheasilvia basin: from http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/PIA15665_700.jpg
• Troughs on Vesta: from http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/asteroid_vesta_surface.asp
• Gullies: from http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/feature_stories/what_is_creating_gullies_on_vesta.asp
• Dawn's Greatest Hits at Vesta video, from https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/details.php?id=1136
• Dwarf planet Ceres: from APOD 2016 February 4 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160204.html
• Gaue crater showing sunken pit: from https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/pia19633/gaue-crater-ceres
• Occator crater: from https://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/science/ceres.html and https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA20350
• Ahuna Mons: from https://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-detail.html?id=PIA20348
• Binary asteroid: Astronomy Picture of the Day 2004 June 19 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040619.html
• Tidal disruption simulation: from Walsh & Richardson 2006, "Binary near-Earth asteroid formation: Rubble pile model of tidal disruptions", Icarus 180, 201
• Itokawa: from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25143_Itokawa
• Patroclus and Menoetius: Frank Marchis "Study of Patroclus and Menoetius: A Double Trojan System" http://astro.berkeley.edu/~fmarchis/Science/Asteroids/Patroclus/
• Asbolus: Hubble Site release STScI-2000-31 http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/solar-system/kuiper-belt-object/2000/31/
• Comet cover image: Comet Lemmon, image by Gerald Rhemann, from APOD 2013 May 6 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130506.html
• Orbit of comet LINEAR: from Chandra X-ray Observatory Photo Album http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cycle1/c1999s4/more.html
• Orbit of Comet Halley: from "Comet Halley" http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/comets/halley.html
• Structure of a comet: from Universe, Fig. 15_26 http://www.public.asu.edu/~atpcs/atpcs/Univ10e/Images/figure_15_26.jpg
• Coma: Comet C/2013 X1 (PanSTARRS), from Astronomy Picture of the Day 2016 June 5 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160605.html
• Comet's tail: Hale-Bopp, from Astronomy Picture of the Day 27 December 2000 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap001227.html
• Two tails: from http://www.physics.fsu.edu/courses/spring99/ast1002h/solarsystem/fig16-14/fig16-142.htm. Hale-Bopp in 1997: Jerry Lodriguss, from Astronomy Picture of the Day 2007 March 31 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070331.html
• Hartley 2: from http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/18nov_cometsnowstorm/. Jets from Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko: from APOD 2015 Feb 3 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150203.html
• Comet McNaught: picture by Robert McNaught, from Astronomy Picture of the Day 2007 January 22 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070122.html; comet over Bendalong, photo by Alain Picard
• Comets visited by spacecraft: from The Planetary Society, http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/small-bodies/comets-visited-by-spacecraft-2014.html
• Deep Impact image: from Deep Impact gallery 1
• Rosetta image of nucleus: from APOD 7 August 2014 http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140807.html
• 67P from 62 km above the surface: APOD 15 September 2014 http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140915.html
• Landing site and probe on surface: from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29203284
• Rosetta image from 19 September: http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/09/19/cometwatch-19-september/
• SOHO comet: from SOHO gallery http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/images/xmascomet.html
• Comet orbits: from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/153P/Ikeya%E2%80%93Zhang
• Artist's view of Kuiper belt object "Quaoar": image by NASA and G. Bacon, http://hubblesite.org/image/1220/news/60-kuiper-belt-objects
• Oort cloud/Kuiper belt: from "Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy!" by Thomas T. Arny, Fig. 7.4 http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/astronomy/arny/instructor/graphics/ch07/0704.html
• Kuiper belt: from http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2016/04/odd-oort-cloud-object-reveals-ancient-clues-to-origin-of-our-solar-system.html
• Binary asteroid: from http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/02/01_patroclus.shtml
• Small solar system bodies: from http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/charts/every-round-object-under-10k-2015.html
• Meteor title image: Comet dust over Enchanted Rock, by Jared Tennant, from APOD 2015 August 14 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150814.html
• Fireball: Leonid fireball, from Astronomy Picture of the Day 2 December 1999 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap991202.html
• Fireball over Groningen: from APOD 2009 October 15, http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091015.html
• Chelyabinsk fireball: from http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/30/chelyabinsk-meteorite-earth-warning-shot-space
• Chelyabinsk video compilation: from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMnZr5DDRlA
• Meteoroid endpoints: re-drawn from "Meteorites: A journey through space and time" by Bevan and de Laeter, p. 31
• Crater formation: from The Terrestrial Planets by Gareth Wynn-Williams http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~wynnwill/110/images/crater_formation.gif
• Meteorite images: from "Exploring Meteorite Mysteries" http://www-curator.jsc.nasa.gov/outreach1/expmetmys/slideset/Slides35-42.htm
• Finding meteorites in Antarctica: from http://expeditions.fieldmuseum.org/antarctic-meteorites/media/collecting-meteorites
• Isochron: from "The Talk.Origins Archive: The Age of the Earth" by Chris Stassen http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-age-of-earth.html
• Images of 2008 TC3, from Nature vol 458, pp 401 and 485
• Meteorite crater on Mars: from Discovery News, "Mars scarred by meteorite impact" http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-hirise-impact-crater.html
• Impact frequency: from "Collisions with near Earth objects" http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/astronomy/q0296.shtml
• Impacts and life: Table 1 from "How common are habitable planets" by Jack Lissauer, 1999, Nature 402, C11, available at http://www.kepler.arc.nasa.gov/papers.html
• K-T impact with dinosaurs: from CNN, "Scientists to drill at site of dinosaur-killing asteroid crater", http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/04/world/scientists-drill-impact-crater-irpt/index.html
• Animation of K-T impact: from The Wright Center for Science Education, Tufts University, "It's Judgement Day" http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/impact/impacta.html
• Illustrations of K-T impact: from "The Impact that Wiped Out the Dinosaur" by William Hartmann http://www.psi.edu/projects/ktimpact/ktimpact.html
• Comet Shoemaker-Levy: Hubble images, from HubbleSite News Archive, http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/1994/26/ and http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/1994/32/
• Crater chains: Ganymede: from Astronomy Picture of the Day, 2001 December 15, https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011215.html. Moon: from Lunar Photo of the Day, January 27 2004, http://www.lpod.org/archive/2004/01/LPOD-2004-01-27.htm
• Torino Impact Scale: from "Asteroid and Comet Impact Hazards", http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/torino.cfm
• 99942 Apophis orbit predictions: from "Collisions with near Earth objects" http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/astronomy/q0296.shtml
• B612 Impact video: from http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-04/22/asteroid-impacts

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Last updated 2 November 2017