Astronomy AST-A 100 Lecture 12: Astro Notes 12
27 Oct 2016
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Are planetesimals left over from the birth of the solar system some 4. 5 billion years ago. The first asteroid was discovered 200 years ago, they are dark and small, this makes. Has a diameter of about 100 km, about half the size of pluto. It"s also large e(cid:374)ough that gra(cid:448)ity has (cid:373)ade it spheri(cid:272)al, Spectroscopic measurements of sunlight that is reflected off of the asteroids surface. To date the largest known asteroid is ceres. Ceres: unlike the random shapes of most asteroids. Recall that each type of atom has a unique spectrum. 2. some also have significant amounts of ice (h2o) and dry ice (co2). 3. a few are completely iron; this suggests they could by fragments of an iron core form a shattered planet. Many asteroids have a moon, tiny asteroids in orbit around the host asteroid. M= (cid:2872)(cid:2870)(cid:3118)(cid:3119) volume density = mass volume. Asteroid densities range from 1,500 km/(cid:2871) up to 2,400 km/(cid:2871) .
