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Ceres: Asteroid or Planet?
| Title |
Ceres: Asteroid or Planet? |
| Explanation |
Is Ceres [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_%28asteroid%29 ] an asteroid [ http://www.nineplanets.org/asteroids.html ] or a planet? Although a trivial designation to some, the recent suggestion by the Planet Definition Committee [ http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/iau0601/iau0601_committee.html ] of the International Astronomical Union [ http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/NEWS.55.0.html ] would have Ceres reclassified from asteroid to planet. A change in taxonomy might lead to more notoriety for the frequently overlooked world. Ceres [ http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/ceres.html ], at about 1000 kilometers across, is the largest object in the main asteroid belt [ http://www.solstation.com/stars/asteroid.htm ] between Mars and Jupiter. Under the newly proposed criteria [ http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/iau0601/iau0601_release.html ], Ceres would qualify as a planet because it is nearly spherical and sufficiently distant from other planets. Pictured above [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2005/27/image/a ] is the best picture yet of Ceres, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010806.html ] as part of a series of exposures ending in 2004 January. Currently, NASA's Dawn mission [ http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] is scheduled to launch in 2007 June to explore Ceres and Vesta [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060820.html ], regardless of their future designations. |
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A Map of Asteroid Vesta
| Title |
A Map of Asteroid Vesta |
| Explanation |
Vesta is a huge rock 500 kilometers across that orbits out past Mars [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/mars.html ]. In 1997, the above map [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/97/27/9727c.html ] of Vesta [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_Vesta ] created using the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970306.html ] was released showing a rugged surface highlighted by a single crater spanning nearly the entire length of the asteroid [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid ]. The large crater dominates the lower part of the above false-color conglomerate image [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/1997/27/image/e ]: blue indicates low terrain, while red indicates raised terrain. Evidence indicates that Vesta [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/background-text/vesta.txt ] underwent a tremendous splintering collision [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1996A%26A...316..248M ] about a billion years ago. In October 1960, a small chunk of this rock believed to have originated on Vesta [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2001M%26PS...36..501D ] fell to Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050102.html ] and was recovered in Australia [ https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/as.html ]. Vesta is considered by some to be a candidate for reclassification into a planet [ http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/iau0601/iau0601_release.html ]. |
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A Map of Asteroid Vesta
| Title |
A Map of Asteroid Vesta |
| Explanation |
Vesta is a huge rock 500 kilometers across that orbits out past Mars [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/mars.html ]. Last week, the above map [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/97/27/9727c.html ] of Vesta [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/solar/eng/vesta.htm ] created using the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970306.html ] was released showing a rugged surface highlighted by a single crater spanning nearly the entire length of the asteroid [ http://izzy.online.discovery.com/DCO/doc/1012/world/starshack/starshack052296/starshack.html ]. The large crater dominates the lower part of the false-color conglomerate image: blue indicates low terrain, while red indicates raised terrain. Evidence indicates that Vesta [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/background-text/vesta.txt ] underwent a tremendous splintering collision [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1996A%26A%2E%2E%2E316%2E%2E248M&db_key=AST&nosetcookie=1 ] about a billion years ago. In October 1960, a small chunk of this rock believed to have originated on Vesta [ http://stardate.utexas.edu/radio/StarDateDB.FM$RETRIEVE?value=12/24/1994&field=ScriptAirDate&html=Test+Request+Date ] fell to Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960819.html ] and was recovered in Australia [ http://www.netinfo.co.uk/factbook/21e2.html ]. |
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Asteroid 9969 Braille
| Title |
Asteroid 9969 Braille |
| Explanation |
NASA probe Deep Space 1 [ http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1/ ] zoomed past asteroid 9969 Braille [ http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/files/misc/ds1asteroid.pdf ] last week as it continued to test its new ion drive [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981203.html ] in the inner Solar System [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/overview.html ]. The flyby was the closest approach a spacecraft has ever made to an asteroid [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980712.html ]. Looking back afterwards, DS1 took the above picture [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1news/ ]. Formerly known as 1992 KD, the 9969th asteroid discovered was renamed in honor of Louis Braille [ http://www.cnib.ca/braille_information/louis_braille.htm ], a pioneer in written communication for the blind. 9969 Braille [ http://huey.jpl.nasa.gov/~spravdo/1992kd.htm ] is thought by some to have collided with asteroid Vesta [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/95/20.html ] in the distant past and broken up, providing debris for many of the meteorites [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/meteorites.html ] that fall to Earth. Asteroid [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/solar/eng/asteroid.htm ] 9969 Braille rotates only once in 9 days, and has an orbit greatly tilted relative to the ecliptic plane [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990529.html ] of the planets. |
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