Asteroids And How To Observe Them

Author : Lawrence Garrett
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2008-07-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 0387765476

Get Book

Asteroids and How to Observe Them by Lawrence Garrett Pdf

Asteroids, particularly those that might present a hazard to life on Earth by impacting our planet, are important. In this age of giant telescopes (Keck and Hubble) and space probes (NEAR) the minor planets have advanced from being tiny points of light to front-page news when they approach Earth. This book looks at the asteroids (minor planets) themselves, their origins, orbits and composition, and at how amateur astronomers can play a part in their detection, tracking and imaging. It begins with a short review of the asteroids themselves, such as the "big four" and a few other highlights a?? objects such as close-approach objects, and some distant and historical types. The book then reviews the beginnings of serious observations by amateurs, and the start of the ALPOa??s Minor Planet Section and Minor Planet Bulletin (MPB) . The second part of the book is designed to help the reader become part of the community of serious minor planet observers. This does not mean setting goals of getting every reader to do research, but rather to supply readers with enough hard information to allow them to join the Pro/Am minor planet community and contribute in the way they prefer. It describes Internet options and key sites, software recommendations, and even how to use charts well at the telescope eyepiece. First time projects for those who have never seen an asteroid explain everything needed for spotting asteroids and keeping records of sightings. This is not a book only for observers who can spend thousands of dollars on telescopes and do world-class work, but is also a manual for newcomers: new visual observers who may be tomorrowa??s groundbreakers.

Author : Roger Dymock
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2010-11-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781441964397

Get Book

Asteroids and Dwarf Planets and How to Observe Them by Roger Dymock Pdf

Dwarf planets (which were formerly called asteroids except for the planet Pluto), and the smaller Solar System bodies still called asteroids today, are making front page news, particularly those that are newly discovered and those that might present a hazard to life on Earth by impacting our planet. In this age of giant telescopes and space probes, these small Solar System bodies have advanced from being tiny points of light to bodies worthy of widespread study. This book describes the dwarf planets and asteroids themselves, their origins, orbits, and composition, and at how amateur astronomers can play a part in their detection, tracking, and imaging. The book is divided into two parts. Part I describes physical properties (including taxonomic types) of dwarf planets and asteroids, how they formed in the early life of the Solar System, and how they evolved to their present positions, groups, and families. It also covers the properties used to define these small Solar System bodies: magnitude, rotation rates (described by their light-curves), and orbital characteristics. Part II opens with a description of the hardware and software an amateur or practical astronomer needs to observe and also to image asteroids. Then numerous observing techniques are covered in depth. Finally, there are lists of relevant amateur and professional organizations and how to submit your own observations to them.

Author : Robert Lunsford
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 198 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2009-02-19
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780387094618

Get Book

Meteors and How to Observe Them by Robert Lunsford Pdf

In this era of high-tech instruments, meteor observing is the one facet of astr- omy that needs nothing more than your naked eye. Meteors can be easily seen without the aid of cameras, binoculars, or telescopes. Just ? nd a comfortable chair and lie back and watch for the surprises that await high above you. It is a great way to involve the family in science where everyone is active at the same time, not wa- ing to take turns at the eyepiece. The kids especially enjoy the hunt for “shooting stars,” oohing and ahing at each streak of light that crosses the sky. While gazing upwards, it is also a great way to get more familiar with the sky by learning the constellations and seeing if you can see the warrior among the stars of Orion or the scorpion among the stars of Scorpius. Until just recently, one could simply go outside and watch for meteors from his or her yard. Unfortunately, humankind’s fear of the dark and the widespread use of lighting as advertisement have lit the nighttime scene in urban areas so that only the brightest stars are visible. Serious meteor observing under such conditions is nearly impossible as the more numerous faint meteors are now lost in the glare of urban skies. Today, a serious meteor observing session entails organizing an outing to a country site where the stars can be seen in all their glory and meteors of all magnitudes can be viewed.

Author : Roger Dymock
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1441964401

Get Book

Asteroids and Dwarf Planets and How to Observe Them by Roger Dymock Pdf

ASTRONOMERS' OBSERVING GUIDES provide up-to-date information for amateur astronomers who want to know all about what it is they are observing. This is the basis of the first part of the book. The second part details observing techniques for practical astronomers, working with a range of different instruments. -- We live in a violent universe. The media constantly remind us of the possibility of an object suddenly appearing and hitting Earth. A hit by an asteroid is believed to have spelled the end of the dinosaurs. Such a collision by an object from space could cause another extinction event, if the object were large enough. And such objects are definitely out there. Often called "the vermin of the sky," asteroids roam our Solar System often unseen. Many have been tracked, and their orbits calculated. But there are still many to be discovered and assessed. Many amateur astronomers are helping in this effort, sometimes even working with professional astronomers, to contribute to our knowledge and avert danger. Some people just enjoying locating these or the dwarf planets, such as Pluto, and then following their paths. Whatever your interest, Asteroids and Dwarf Planets and How to Observe Them will help you get started. It will tell you what you are looking at and why you should look. It will also help you learn how to look. This is definitely an area where amateurs can make a difference. Roger Dymock, in clear, engaging language can help you get started right now!

Author : Brian Cudnik
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2010-03-10
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781441903242

Get Book

Lunar Meteoroid Impacts and How to Observe Them by Brian Cudnik Pdf

The genesis of modern searches for observable meteoritic phenomena on the Moon is the paper by Lincoln La Paz in Popular Astronomy magazine in 1938. In it he argued that the absence of observed fashes of meteoritic impacts on the Moon might be interpreted to mean that these bodies are destroyed as luminous meteors in an extremely rarefed lunar atmosphere. The paper suggested the possibility of systematic searches for such possible lunar meteors. With these concepts in mind, I was surprised to note a transient moving bright speck on the Moon on July 10, 1941. It appeared to behave very much as a lunar meteor would – except that the poorly estimated duration would lead to a strongly hyperbolic heliocentric velocity. Thus, the idea of systematic searches for both p- sible lunar meteors and meteoritic impact fashes was born. It was appreciated that much time might need to be expended to achieve any positive results. Systematic searches were carried out by others and myself chiefy in the years 1945–1965 and became a regular program at the newly founded Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, or ALPO.

Author : Carrie Nugent
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2017-03-14
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781501120091

Get Book

Asteroid Hunters by Carrie Nugent Pdf

For the first time, scientists could have the knowledge to prevent a natural disaster epic in scale—an asteroid hitting the earth and in this exciting, adventuresome book, Carrie Nugent explains how. What are asteroids, and where do they come from? And, most urgently: Are they going to hit the Earth? What would happen if one was on its way? Carrie Nugent is an asteroid hunter—part of a group of scientists working to map our cosmic neighborhood. For the first time ever, we are reaching the point where we may be able to prevent the horrible natural disaster that would result from an asteroid collision. In Asteroid Hunters, Nugent reveals what known impact asteroids have had: the extinction of the dinosaurs, the earth-sized hole Shoemaker Levy 9 left in Jupiter just a few decades ago, how the meteorite that bursted over Chelyabinsk in Russia could have started a war, and unlucky Ms. Anne Hodges—the only person (that we know of) in US history to be the victim of a direct hit. Nugent also introduces the telescope she uses to detect near-Earth asteroids. Ultimately, detection is the key to preventing asteroid impact, and these specialized scientists are working to prevent the unthinkable from happening. If successful, asteroid hunting will lead to the first natural disaster humans have the know-how and the technology to prevent. The successful hunt and mapping of asteroids could mean nothing less than saving life on earth.

Author : Stephen J. Edberg,David H. Levy
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 1994-10-06
Category : Nature
ISBN : 0521420032

Get Book

Observing Comets, Asteroids, Meteors, and the Zodiacal Light by Stephen J. Edberg,David H. Levy Pdf

When can you see fireballs and who should you contact if you spot one? When is it best to hunt for comets and meteors and whereabouts? How do you gauge the size of the coma in the head of a comet and estimate its degree of condensation? Clear and easy to use, this guide shows you how to make successful and valuable observations and records of comets, asteroids, meteors and the zodiacal light. For each topic the historical background and current scientific understanding support a wealth of observational techniques. Comet observers are shown techniques for search and discovery. They can learn how to make visual estimates of brightness and size, and how to make photographic studies of cometary heads and tails. Asteroid hunters will find a 'life list' of quarry and guidelines on how to search for these objects and then how to photograph or electronically image them. Fruitful photographic and electronic methods for studying meteors and meteor showers are provided. Visual and photographic techniques show you how to examine the often elusive zodiacal light. The more adventurous are provided with advanced techniques on how to make successful astrometric, spectroscopic and electronic observations. This is rounded off with an invaluable list of centres world-wide to contact with your details of unusual sightings.

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences,Space Studies Board,Committee on Near Earth Object Observations in the Infrared and Visible Wavelengths
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 75 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2019-11-09
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780309493987

Get Book

Finding Hazardous Asteroids Using Infrared and Visible Wavelength Telescopes by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences,Space Studies Board,Committee on Near Earth Object Observations in the Infrared and Visible Wavelengths Pdf

Near Earth objects (NEOs) have the potential to cause significant damage on Earth. In December 2018, an asteroid exploded in the upper atmosphere over the Bering Sea (western Pacific Ocean) with the explosive force of nearly 10 times that of the Hiroshima bomb. While the frequency of NEO impacts rises in inverse proportion to their sizes, it is still critical to monitor NEO activity in order to prepare defenses for these rare but dangerous threats. Currently, NASA funds a network of ground-based telescopes and a single, soon-to-expire space-based asset to detect and track large asteroids that could cause major damage if they struck Earth. This asset is crucial to NEO tracking as thermal-infrared detection and tracking of asteroids can only be accomplished on a space-based platform. Finding Hazardous Asteroids Using Infrared and Visible Wavelength Telescopes explores the advantages and disadvantages of infrared (IR) technology and visible wavelength observations of NEOs. This report reviews the techniques that could be used to obtain NEO sizes from an infrared spectrum and delineate the associated errors in determining the size. It also evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of these techniques and recommends the most valid techniques that give reproducible results with quantifiable errors.

Author : Patrick Michel,Francesca E. DeMeo,William F. Bottke
Publisher : University of Arizona Press
Page : 946 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2015-12-31
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780816532131

Get Book

Asteroids IV by Patrick Michel,Francesca E. DeMeo,William F. Bottke Pdf

"More than forty chapters detail our current astronomical, compositional, geological, and geophysical knowledge of asteroids, as well as their unique physical processes and interrelationships with comets and meteorites"--Provided by publisher.

Author : Edward C. Blair
Publisher : Nova Publishers
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Reference
ISBN : 1590334825

Get Book

Asteroids by Edward C. Blair Pdf

With the bulk of asteroids floating in space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, astronomers puzzle over where these rocks came from. Are they the remnants of a planet? Excess not used in the formation of the Solar System? Nothing more than random bits of debris? The location of the belt makes for a quasi-barrier separating the inner from the outer planets. Perhaps asteroids were meant to discourage human space exploration. NASA has sent missions to explore the asteroid belt and the rocks themselves, and those missions have yielded some interesting observations on the composition of the asteroids but no definitive answer as to their origin. Earth-based tools such as telescopes and satellites also contribute to asteroid research but cannot plumb the depths behind these varied chunks of flotsam. Presented in this book is a list of carefully chosen abstracts and citations of relevant literature about asteroids and the research into them. Prior to this listing, though, comes an overview of the nature of the asteroids and what we know now about them and what we hope to discover in the future. lifeless but mysterious rocks inhabiting the solar system. To conclude, easy access is provided through author, title, and subject indexes.

Author : O. Richard Norton,Lawrence Chitwood
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 285 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2008-05-25
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781848001572

Get Book

Field Guide to Meteors and Meteorites by O. Richard Norton,Lawrence Chitwood Pdf

What is unique about Richard Norton's book is that it is both a field guide to observing meteors, and also a field guide to locating, preparing and analysing meteorites. In addition to giving the reader information about observing techniques for meteors, this book also provides a fully detailed account of the types of meteorites, how and where to find them, how to prepare and analyse them. The book provides everything the amateur astronomer (or geologist!) needs to know about meteors and meteorites. It is thus the only complete book on the subject available at present.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 36 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 1985
Category : Artificial satellites, American
ISBN : UIUC:30112071805219

Get Book

A Look Into the Beginning of the Solar System by Anonim Pdf

Author : William Frederick Bottke
Publisher : University of Arizona Press
Page : 818 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2002-01-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 0816522812

Get Book

Asteroids III by William Frederick Bottke Pdf

Two hundred years after the first asteroid was discovered, asteroids can no longer be considered mere points of light in the sky. Spacecraft missions, advanced Earth-based observation techniques, and state-of-the-art numerical models are continually revealing the detailed shapes, structures, geological properties, and orbital characteristics of these smaller denizens of our solar system. This volume brings together the latest information obtained by spacecraft combined with astronomical observations and theoretical modeling, to present our best current understanding of asteroids and the clues they reveal for the origin an,d evolution of the solar system. This collective knowledge, prepared by a team of more than one hundred international authorities on asteroids, includes new insights into asteroid-meteorite connections, possible relationships with comets, and the hazards posed by asteroids colliding with Earth. The book's contents include reports on surveys based on remote observation and summaries of physical properties; results of in situ exploration; studies of dynamical, collisional, cosmochemical, and weathering evolutionary processes; and discussions of asteroid families and the relationships between asteroids and other solar system bodies. Two previous Space Science Series volumes have established standards for research into asteroids. Asteroids III carries that tradition forward in a book that will stand as the definitive source on its subject for the next decade.

Author : Curtis Peebles
Publisher : Smithsonian Institution
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2016-04-26
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781944466046

Get Book

Asteroids by Curtis Peebles Pdf

Asteroids suggest images of a catastrophic impact with Earth, triggering infernos, tidal waves, famine, and death -- but these scenarios have obscured the larger story of how asteroids have been discovered and studied. During the past two centuries, the quest for knowledge about asteroids has involved eminent scientists and amateur astronomers, patient research and sudden intuition, advanced technology and the simplest of telescopes, newspaper headlines and Cold War secrets. Today, researchers have named and identified the mineral composition of these objects. They range in size from 33 feet to 580 miles wide and most are found in a belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Covering all aspects of asteroid investigation, Curtis Peebles shows how ideas about the orbiting boulders have evolved. He describes how such phenomena as the Moon's craters and dinosaur extinction were gradually, and by some scientists grudgingly, accepted as the results of asteroid impacts. He tells how a band of icy asteroids rimming the solar system, first proposed as a theory in the 1940s, was ignored for more than forty years until renewed interest and technological breakthroughs confirmed the existence of the Kuiper Belt. Peebles also chronicles the discovery of Shoemaker-Levy 9, a comet with twenty-two nuclei that crashed into Jupiter in 1994, releasing many times the energy of the world's nuclear arsenal. Showing how asteroid research is increasingly collaborative, the book provides insights into the evolution of scientific ideas and the ebb and flow of scientific debate.

Author : National Research Council,Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences,Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board,Space Studies Board,Committee to Review Near-Earth-Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 152 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2010-07-21
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780309149686

Get Book

Defending Planet Earth by National Research Council,Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences,Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board,Space Studies Board,Committee to Review Near-Earth-Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies Pdf

The United States spends approximately $4 million each year searching for near-Earth objects (NEOs). The objective is to detect those that may collide with Earth. The majority of this funding supports the operation of several observatories that scan the sky searching for NEOs. This, however, is insufficient in detecting the majority of NEOs that may present a tangible threat to humanity. A significantly smaller amount of funding supports ways to protect the Earth from such a potential collision or "mitigation." In 2005, a Congressional mandate called for NASA to detect 90 percent of NEOs with diameters of 140 meters of greater by 2020. Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies identifies the need for detection of objects as small as 30 to 50 meters as these can be highly destructive. The book explores four main types of mitigation including civil defense, "slow push" or "pull" methods, kinetic impactors and nuclear explosions. It also asserts that responding effectively to hazards posed by NEOs requires national and international cooperation. Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies is a useful guide for scientists, astronomers, policy makers and engineers.