Solar System
Asteroid Facts: Vesta
The asteroid designated 4 Vesta is one of the largest objects in the asteroid belt with a diameter of 525 kilometres (326 miles). Discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers on 29 March 1807, and named after …
Asteroids and Comets
Solar System
Dwarf Planet Facts: Ceres
Ceres was thought to be an asteroid for many years but is so much bigger than its rocky neighbors that it was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. Although Ceres is reasonably easy to …
News
Scientists Confirm First Ever Interstellar Asteroid
Last month, Hawaiian based astronomers using the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS 1 telescope discovered the first confirmed asteroid in our solar system originating from another star. While the reddish, cigar-shape object has been given the …
Astronomy Lists
10 Interesting Facts about the Oort Cloud
Named after the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort, but sometimes also known as the Öpik–Oort cloud, this hypothetical cloud of small, icy planetesimals is thought to surround the solar system out to a distance of more …
Astronomy Lists
10 Interesting Facts about the Kuiper Belt
Also known as the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt, this structure extends from just beyond the orbit of the planet Neptune to a distance of roughly 50-55 astronomical units from the Sun. Composed primarily of small icy bodies …
Astronomy Lists
10 Interesting Facts about Halley’s Comet (1P/Halley)
Halley’s Comet, also designated 1P/Halley as it was the first comet to be recognized as periodic, is the only comet that is known to be visible without optical aid during each apparition, which occurs once …
Solar System
Oort Cloud: The Solar System’s Icy Shell
Also known as the Öpik–Oort cloud, after Dutch and Estonian astronomers Jan Oort and Ernst Öpik, the cloud is a spherical swarm of planetesimals composed mainly of various ices (notably water, methane, and ammonia ice) …
Solar System
What is the Origin of the Kuiper Belt?
Also known as the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt, this is a region of space that falls in an area outside of the orbits of the major planets but still within the gravitational influence of the Sun, thus …
Solar System
The Main Asteroid Belt of The Solar System
In general terms, the asteroid belt is defined as the relatively thickly populated region approximately between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. Also known as the main-asteroid belt to differentiate between it and …
News
Probe Lands On Distant Comet Seeking Clues To Life’s Origins
On 2nd March 2004, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft along with its robotic lander called Philae launched from Earth with the stated mission of successfully landing on the surface of Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko (named …