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Posts
- Space Rocks! (1/4/2019)- It was a fantastic holiday season for space fans! In fact, there was so much going on, it was almost impossible to keep up with it all. According to your news sources and interests, you have probably heard about at least some of the amazing things that happened, but chances are you haven’t heard about … Continue reading Space Rocks!
- Get Lost in Space! (9/14/2018)- Way back in August, in anticipation of the start of a new school year, I set out to update the pages on this site related to space. Those pages tend to be popular among the teachers and students who use Cosma, and I happen to enjoy updating them, too. It sounded like a short, fun … Continue reading Get Lost in Space!
- Asteroids Galore! (6/27/2018)- Head’s up! You’re going to hear a lot about asteroids over the next week or so. The good news is that none of it is related to any specific asteroid hitting us. This media blitz is due to a trifecta of asteroid related events this week. One big reason you’ll hear so much about asteroids … Continue reading Asteroids Galore!
- Octopuses from Space! (5/20/2018)- Did you hear the one about the octopuses from space? It sounds like the title of a cheesy sci-fi movie, doesn’t it? But it isn’t, this time, or at least, yet. Instead, it’s actually an oddball theory that’s been put forth in a recently published “scientific” article that’s getting quite a lot of buzz in … Continue reading Octopuses from Space!
- Asteroids Everywhere (6/30/2017)- Friday, June 30 is Asteroid Day, so you are going to be hearing a LOT about Asteroids over the next day or so (see Asteroid Day.org, NASA, YouTube and Wikipedia). The reason Asteroid Day falls on this date is because it’s the anniversary of the 1908 “Tunguska event” when scientists believe a 50 meter wide … Continue reading Asteroids Everywhere
Resources
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General
Portal
Solar System Exploration: Asteroids (NASA)
Asteroid Things (Wikipedia)
Dictionary
asteroid : any of the small rocky celestial bodies found especially between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter — Webster
OneLook, Free Dictionary, Wiktionary, Urban Dictionary
Encyclopedia
Asteroids are a class of Small Solar System Bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones. These terms have historically been applied to any astronomical object orbiting the Sun that did not show the disk of a planet and was not observed to have the characteristics of an active comet, but as small objects in the outer Solar System were discovered, their volatile-based surfaces were found to more closely resemble comets, and so were often distinguished from traditional asteroids. Thus the term asteroid has come increasingly to refer specifically to the small rocky–icy and metallic bodies of the inner Solar System out to the orbit of Jupiter. They are grouped with the outer bodies—centaurs, Neptune trojans, and trans-Neptunian objects—as minor planets, which is the term preferred in astronomical circles.
There are millions of asteroids, many thought to be the often shattered remnants of planetesimals, bodies within the young Sun’s solar nebula that never grew large enough to become planets. A large majority of known asteroids orbit in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter or co-orbital with Jupiter (the Jupiter Trojans). However, other orbital families exist with significant populations, including the near-Earth asteroids. Individual asteroids are classified by their characteristic spectra, with the majority falling into three main groups: C-type, S-type, and M-type. These were named after and are generally identified with carbon-rich, stony, and metallic compositions, respectively. — Wikipedia
Asteroids (Eric Weisstein’s World of Astronomy, Wolfram Research)
Encyclopædia Britannica
Search
Science
Planetary Defense Office (NASA)
NASA Office to Coordinate Asteroid Detection, Hazard Mitigation (NASA)
Planetary Defense Coordination Office, Press Release (PDCO, NASA)
Twenty Years of Tracking Near-Earth Objects (NASA/JPL)
Near-Earth Objects Internet Resources (Library of Congress)
Near-Earth Objects (Minor Planet Center, International Astronomical Union)
Near Earth Asteroids (Minor Planet Center, International Astronomical Union)
Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (Minor Planet Center, International Astronomical Union)
1+ KM Near-Earth Objects (Minor Planet Center, International Astronomical Union)
OSIRIS-REx Mission (NASA)
OSIRIS Rex (Wikipedia)
101955 Bennu (NASA)
101955 Bennu (Wikipedia)
Preservation
History
The Discovery of Asteroids (ESA)
Library
WorldCat, Library of Congress, UPenn Online Books, Open Library
Participation
Education
What is an Asteroid? (Space Place, NASA)
More to Explore: Asteroids, Comets and Meteorites (NASA)
Comets, Meteors & Asteroids (Ask an Astronomer, Cornell University)
Asteroids (Cosmos4Kids)
Course
Crash Course Astronomy (YouTube)
OER Commons: Open Educational Resources
Community
Organization
International Astronomical Union (IAU)
News
Science Daily, Phys.org, NPR Archives
Book
Government
Document
Expression
Fun
The Great Asteroid of 1998 (FailBook)
Poem
OEDILF: The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form
More…
Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine.
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The day the asteroid might hit
on April 26, 2019 at 10:07 am
For the first time, ESA will cover a major international asteroid impact exercise live via social media, highlighting the the actions that might be taken by scientists, space agencies and civil protection organisations. […]
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Here we go again: Earth's major 'mass extinctions'
on April 25, 2019 at 5:06 pm
Most scientists agree that a "mass extinction" event is underway on Earth, with species disappearing hundreds of time quicker under the influence of human activity. […]
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Nuclear weapons might save the world from an...
on April 25, 2019 at 4:30 pm
The schlocky 1998 Bruce Willis movie Armageddon was the highest grossing film of that year. The blockbuster saw a master oil driller (Willis) and an unlikely crew of misfits place a nuclear bomb inside a giant asteroid heading for Earth, blow it up – and save humanity. Armageddon isn't exactly a documentary: it's packed full of sci-fi nonsense. But, 20 years on, its basic plot – of using a nuclear explosion to avert a cataclysmic asteroid collision – doesn't seem quite as […]
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How to destroy an asteroid without nuking each...
on April 25, 2019 at 3:50 pm
In the event of an asteroid heading to Earth and likely to cause catastrophic damage, an Armageddon-style nuclear explosion may well be our best line of defence. But would doing so lead the way to potential space-based nuclear apocalypse instead? […]
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Japan creates first artificial crater on asteroid
on April 25, 2019 at 12:32 pm
Japanese scientists have succeeded in creating what they called the first-ever artificial crater on an asteroid, a step towards shedding light on how the solar system evolved, the country's space agency said Thursday. […]
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Why Pluto is losing its atmosphere: winter is...
on April 24, 2019 at 12:46 pm
The ominous warning – "winter is coming", popularised by fantasy series Game of Thrones – applies equally well to Pluto. […]
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China to build moon station in 'about 10 years'
on April 24, 2019 at 11:06 am
Beijing plans to send a manned mission to the moon and to build a research station there within the next decade, state media reported Wednesday, citing a top space official. […]
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One million species risk extinction due to...
on April 23, 2019 at 2:01 pm
Up to one million species face extinction due to human influence, according to a draft UN report obtained by AFP that painstakingly catalogues how humanity has undermined the natural resources upon which its very survival depends. […]
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Earth vs. asteroids: humans strike back
on April 22, 2019 at 11:50 am
Incoming asteroids have been scarring our home planet for billions of years. This month humankind left our own mark on an asteroid for the first time: Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft dropped a copper projectile at very high speed in an attempt to form a crater on asteroid Ryugu. A much bigger asteroid impact is planned for the coming decade, involving an international double-spacecraft mission. […]
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Opinion: Canada's approach to lunar exploration...
on April 19, 2019 at 10:30 am
Should Canada go to the moon? What's there for Canadians? It is these questions that we should ponder when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced that Canada will be participating in the new space exploration vision. […]