Asteroids and Comets Archives | Articles | Astronomy Trek

What is ESA’s Killer Asteroid-Deflecting Mission?

James Miller — Sat, 18 Dec 2021 11:52:59 +0000

The last few years have been difficult, with many disasters, including the pandemic that is still affecting us. Because of this, it has become popular to ‘predict’ the next disaster, with many online saying that ...

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Oumuamua, Alien Visitors and Occam’s Razor

James Miller — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 10:05:14 +0000

Asteroids are a common objects in our solar system. Most of them originate from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, followed by the ones that come from the distant Oort cloud that encircles us ...

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Is a Doomsday Asteroid Heading Towards Earth?

James Miller — Sun, 03 Jan 2021 16:47:20 +0000

Last year was a tough one, loaded with natural and man-made disasters to the point where many people jokingly predicted a giant asteroid hitting Earth for December 2020. Now that we have safely passed into ...

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Asteroid 2019 OK Missed Hitting Earth By Just 40,000 Miles

James Miller — Sat, 03 Aug 2019 11:50:30 +0000

On July 25th, asteroid 2019 OK flew by Earth at a distance of only 40,000 miles (65,000 kms). Measuring around 330 feet (100 meters) wide, asteroids the size of 2019 OK are relatively common in ...

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Asteroid Apophis To Pass Within 19,000 Miles of Earth in 2029

James Miller — Wed, 01 May 2019 10:32:06 +0000

Asteroid 99942 Apophis will pass within 19,000 miles of the Earth’s surface on April 13, 2029, which is closer than some satellites currently orbiting our planet. Furthermore, the huge 1,500 feet long and 550 feet ...

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Destroying Earthbound Asteroid Harder Than Thought

James Miller — Wed, 13 Mar 2019 13:47:01 +0000

Around 66 million years ago, a huge 10-15 kilometers wide asteroid abruptly ended the 180 million year reign of the dinosaurs. The devastation which has left a 150 kilometers in diameter crater, the second-largest crater ...

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Oumuamua: Asteroid, Comet or Alien Probe?

James Miller — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 12:09:59 +0000

One just has to watch television shows such as The History Channel and the Sci-Fi Channel to see so-called experts like Giorgio A. Tsoukalos promoting belief in UFOs and ancient alien astronauts. It comes as ...

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Asteroids and Comets Are Showering Mars with Organic Material

James Miller — Sun, 01 Apr 2018 12:58:22 +0000

The image above shows a fresh crater on Mars surrounded by a blanket of ejected material; as impacts on Mars go, this particular example is very young, having occurred sometime between January 2014 and August ...

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Asteroid Facts: Hygiea

James Miller — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 10:08:42 +0000

The image above includes a light-curve derived 3D model of the C-type asteroid designated 10 Hygiea, the fourth largest asteroid in the solar system by both volume and mass, the latter of which is estimated ...

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Asteroid Facts: Pallas

James Miller — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 09:58:31 +0000

The image above shows the somewhat oblate shape of the B-type asteroid designated 2 Pallas, which is the second asteroid to be discovered, and the third most massive, containing about 7% of all the mass ...

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