Night Sky, April 2020: What You Can See This Month [maps] Asteroid April 2020

A clear night sky offers an ever-changing display of fascinating objects to see — stars, constellations, and bright planets, often the moon, and sometimes special events like meteor showers. Observing the night sky can be done with no special equipment, although a  

 

Calendar of Observing Highlights

Wednesday, April 1 at 10:21 GMT—First Quarter Moon

(Image credit: )

During April, Neptune will be shifting away from the morning sun in the eastern pre-dawn sky among the stars of eastern Aquarius. The shallow morning ecliptic will delay Neptune's return to visibility for quite some time. 

Skywatching Terms

Gibbous: Used to describe a planet or moon that is more than 50% illuminated.

Asterism: A noteworthy or striking pattern of stars within a larger constellation.

Degrees (measuring the sky): The sky is 360 degrees all the way around, which means roughly 180 degrees from horizon to horizon. It's easy to measure distances between objects: Your fist on an outstretched arm covers about 10 degrees of sky, while a finger covers about one degree.

Visual Magnitude: This is the astronomer's scale for measuring the brightness of objects in the sky. The dimmest object visible in the night sky under perfectly dark conditions is about magnitude 6.5. Brighter stars are magnitude 2 or 1. The brightest objects get negative numbers. Venus can be as bright as magnitude minus 4.9. The full moon is minus 12.7 and the sun is minus 26.8.

Terminator: The boundary on the moon between sunlight and shadow.

Zenith: The point in the sky directly overhead.

 

Night Sky Observing Tips

Adjust to the dark: If you wish to observe faint objects, such as meteors or dim stars, give your eyes at least 15 minutes to adjust to the darkness.

Light Pollution: Even from a big city, one can see the moon, a handful of bright stars and sometimes the brightest planets. But to fully enjoy the heavens — especially a meteor shower, the constellations, or to see the amazing swath across the sky that represents our view toward the center of the Milky Way Galaxy — rural areas are best for night sky viewing. If you're stuck in a city or suburban area, a building can be used to block ambient light (or moonlight) to help reveal fainter objects. If you're in the suburbs, simply turning off outdoor lights can help.

Prepare for skywatching: If you plan to be out for more than a few minutes, and it's not a warm summer evening, dress warmer than you think necessary. An hour of observing a winter meteor shower can chill you to the bone. A blanket or lounge chair will prove much more comfortable than standing or sitting in a chair and craning your neck to see overhead.

Daytime skywatching: When Venus is visible (that is, not in front of or behind the sun) it can often be spotted during the day. But you'll need to know where to look. A sky map is helpful. When the sun has large sunspots, they can be seen without a telescope. However, it's unsafe to look at the sun without protective eyewear. See our video on how to safely observe the sun, or our safe sunwatching infographic.

Further Reading

ShopYourWay - An Error Has Occurred Asteroids Cheetos

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Whatever Happened To Hot Cheetos Puff Balls/Asteroids!? Asteroids Hot Cheetos

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An Asteroid Will Come Incredibly Close To Earth In 2029 Asteroids Earth

A decade from now, on April 15, 2029,

Coronavirus Jitters Not Enough? Four Near-Earth Asteroids And Huge Rock May Hit Earth's Surface Soon: Report Asteroids Hit Earth

Publish Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2020 01:40 PM IST

New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: While we are already facing a tough situation due to coronavirus, a total of four asteroids are approaching the earth's surface and will fly really close to the planet on March 23 (as per GMT), as per NASA's Center for Near-Earth Objects (CNEOS). The asteroids have been named 2020 FFI, 2020 DP4, 2020 FS, 2020 FK by the CNEOS.

The smallest of them all is 2020 FK, which is the smallest (43 meter in diameter). It is heading towards earth at a speed more than 37,000 km per hour and reportedly will pass at a distance of 1.36 million kilometers.

After FK, 2020 FS is the second largest with a diameter of 48 feet. It's the fastest among all and travels at a speed of 47,000 km per hour. It will be closest to our planet at just around 7,13,000 kilometres away.

Among all four asteroids, DP4 is the biggest. It will fly at a distance of 1.3 million km away from earth at a speed of 29,000 kilometers per hour.

The above asteroid is expected to pass through the planets between 12.04 am and 3.39 am IST (March 24).

What comes as a relief is that the asteroids will not affect the earth. None of the above asteroids will touch the earth's surface. The nearest one will come as close as 7.13 lakh km, which almost twice the distance between the earth and the moon (3.6 lakh kilometer).

A European space agency in September last year had earlier gave a 1/7000 chance of these asteroid impacting earth, but later said that it will miss the earth completely. majority of us are not even aware of these asteroids apart from astrophysicists and professionals.

Besides asteroids, a 390 kg rock is also expected to approach close to earth on March 27, said a report from express.co.uk. Like above asteroids, it will also be many miles away. The rock will pass from a distance of 0.04453 astronomical units. It will be 17,33 times as far as the moon. These asteroids are known as Near-Earth Objects.

Posted By: James Kuanal

Fun Asteroid Belt Facts For Kids Asteroid Belt

Asteroids are made up of rock and metal for the most part, and in different areas of our were formed.

One is called ‘The Asteroid belt’ which is the remains of a planet between Mars and Jupiter that failed to fully form.

The other is called ‘The Kuiper Belt’ which is about 4 billion miles away from the sun!

Billions of asteroids make up both of these belts that are in our solar system. Scientists have identified hundreds of thousands of these asteroids, and have also named thousands of them.

The asteroids that move out of their orbit and end up crashed on Earth are called ‘Meteorites’

These meteorites are mostly made up of rock and iron.

There is a theory that life started on Earth due to a meteorite crash. A meteorite was discovered crashed on Earth from somewhere in the solar system. Traces of Amino Acids were found that are the building blocks for forming proteins. In turn proteins make up life.  

Kids Fun Facts Corner

# 1. More than 100 Asteroids are known to have orbiting moons.

# 2. An Asteroid may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

# 3. More than 10 unmanned spacecraft have landed on asteroids in the recent past.

Q&A Corner

Q. What are the names of both belts in the solar system?

Q. Between what planets does ‘The Asteroid Belt’ sit?

Q. How many miles away is ‘The Kuiper Belt’ from the sun?

Q. Name two things that asteroids are made of?

Q. How many asteroids make up the asteroid belts?

Download questions about planets here:  (answers are on this page)

Teachers. For more in depth work sheets on asteroids. Click on Kidskonnect.  

For further reading and more information on asteroid belts visit

Key Vocabulary Solar System. Planet. Rock. Metal. Iron. Ice. Amino Acids. Proteins.

Newly-discovered Asteroid Could Strike Earth Within Decades Asteroid 2019

As technology advances, scientists have become more and more skilled at spotting potentially threatening objects in space. This is great news for the human race, but it also means that when we spot a distant space rock, we may not know just how much of a threat it really is for a long time to come.

That’s the case with asteroid 2019 SU3, a newly-discovered space rock that doesn’t appear dangerous at the moment but may end up being a serious problem several decades down the road. The asteroid, which was just added to the , will make a shockingly close pass of our planet in around 65 years.

Based on observations of the asteroid’s trajectory, the risk of collision is still relatively small, with placing the chances of a strike at less than 1%. Still, the fact that the odds aren’t a nice round 0% means that astronomers will need to keep an eye on it.

When the space rock enters our neck of the woods in 2084 it will pass within 6,000 miles of Earth. That might seem like a nice, comfortable distance, but when you consider that Earth’s moon is a whopping 238,000 miles away you get an idea of just how narrow the window truly is.

Generally speaking, mankind has gotten pretty lucky when it comes to asteroids. Humanity hasn’t had to deal with any devastating objects from space, and if we’re lucky we’ll have the technology to deal with those threats before they become a serious problem.

In the coming years, astronomers will be able to increase the certainty of their predictions, and hopefully rule out the possibility that 2019 SU3 poses a threat to our planet. If it does, however, hopefully .

Image Source: NASA

Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games for the past decade, covering breaking news and trends in VR, wearables, smartphones, and future tech. Most recently, Mike served as Tech Editor at The Daily Dot, and has been featured in USA Today, Time.com, and countless other web and print outlets. His love of reporting is second only to his gaming addiction.

Asteroids Asteroids Game

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Classic Asteroids By Neave - Flash Asteroids Asteroids The Game

Asteroids is a video arcade game created in 1979 by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg. It was one of the most popular and influential games of the early 80s and classic gaming in general. Asteroids uses vector graphics and a two-dimensional top view that wraps around in both screen axes. The player controls a spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy asteroids and saucers while not colliding with either, or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire.

What Are Asteroids? - Facts & Explanation | Study.com Asteroids Definition

Millions of asteroids dot our solar system, bumping and crashing into each other as they orbit the sun. This lesson will define and describe the properties of asteroids and how they have shaped the Earth.

Definition

An asteroid is an object made of rock and/or ice that orbits the sun. Planets also fit this definition, but an asteroid lacks some of the features needed to be a planet. For example, asteroids lack a consistent spherical shape as seen with planets. Also, planets are large enough to clear other objects out of their immediate path. This does not occur with asteroids, which can be seen by studying the asteroid belt.

The surface of asteroids is littered with craters from impacts with other asteroids, as shown in the image below:

Asteroids commonly have impact craters

The largest asteroid currently known is Ceres. With a diameter of 590 miles, Ceres orbits over twice the distance from the sun as Earth does.

Ceres

Location

Asteroid Belt

Just past Mars lies a ring of over two million asteroids orbiting the sun. These asteroids formed along with the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. Unlike planets, the asteroids and small rock fragments here were prevented from combining into a planet by the gravity of Jupiter.

Location of the asteroid belt

With so many asteroids orbiting the sun, it's inevitable that they bump and collide into each other. At times, these collisions are strong enough to knock an asteroid out of the asteroid belt and into open space. If conditions are just right (or wrong?), their path can put them on a collision course with Earth. These impacts occur and can have disastrous effects, including the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Trojan Asteroids

While most asteroids are found in the asteroid belt, other asteroids can lie in the orbits of moons and planets. Asteroids that lie in the same orbital paths of planets, but are at a different location, are able to survive because they do not collide with the planet.

Impacts

Throughout Earth's history, and even most recently as 2013, impacts from asteroids have caused hysteria, destruction and even complete extinctions.

Chelyabinsk

On February 15, 2013 an asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere over Russia, traveling at over 41,000 miles per hour. The heat from air molecules caused the meteor to explode while in flight, causing a large explosion in the atmosphere. The explosion caused broken glass and some buildings to collapse and roughly 1,500 people were injured. In the city of Chelyabinsk, small meteorite fragments have been found.

Chicxulub

A much larger impact caused the Mesozoic Era to come to an abrupt end 66 million years ago. An asteroid about six miles in diameter slammed off the coast of Mexico causing destruction worldwide and eventually causing the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Artist rentition of Chicxulub impact

Terminology

Commonly there is confusion about the difference between an asteroid, meteor and meteorite. They are the same thing, but have different names for their different locations.

• An asteroid is a rock orbiting in space
• A meteor is an asteroid that has entered Earth's atmosphere.
• A meteorite is a meteor that has actually struck the surface of the Earth.

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Astéroïde Asteroid Definition

Un astéroïde est un corps céleste composé de roches et de (UAI). Ce numéro, parfois accompagné d'un nom propre, ne dépend pas de l'ordre de sa découverte mais de celui où l'on a pu déterminer son orbite exacte. Il reprend donc d'abord entre parenthèses son ordre d'attribution, puis le chiffre de l'année, suivi d'une lettre qui indique la moitié du mois et une lettre qui indique l'ordre de la découverte dans cette moitié de mois. Par exemple 249.516 Aretha (2010 CV60).

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Astéroïdes : pourquoi leur explosion ne suffirait pas à sauver la Terre  On a déjà vu, dans plusieurs films, des scientifiques faire exploser un géocroiseur pour éviter une collision avec notre planète. C'est sans doute le premier scénario qui nous viendrait aussi à l'esprit dans cette situation. Mais est-ce vraiment une solution viable ? Pas certain, selon Discovery Science. Voici en vidéo un aperçu de ce qui pourrait alors se passer. 

NASA Is Tracking Four Asteroids Headed Toward Earth This Weekend, But No Collisions Expected. Asteroids Nasa

“It’s not a matter of if, but when, we will deal with an asteroid collision threat on Earth.”

— Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate

March 21, 2020  Albuquerque, New Mexico – NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS)  has an automated asteroid tracking system that recently detected 4 asteroids approaching Earth this Spring Equinox weekend. Here’s the list. Some scientists wondered if 2020 FK might cause an airburst explosion?

1)  2020 FK – 12:05 AM EDT on Saturday, March 21, 2020

The first asteroid, which is likely to hit Earth this weekend, has been identified as 2020 FK. Its diameter is near 43 feet, the smallest of the four incoming objects.  Travel speed is 23,000 miles per hour and some scientists wondered if it would explode in an air burst near Earth like the Chelyabinsk bollide below did in February 2013.

2)   2020 FS – Closest approach at 11:29 AM EDT on Saturday, March 21, 2020

Another asteroid is 2020 FS. This asteroid is trailing behind 2020 FK. The 2020 FS asteroid is 56 feet wide and coming toward Earth at around 9,600 miles per hour. According to the space researchers, the direction of its flow in the space is towards Earth.

3)   2020 DP4 – Closest approach at 2:34 PM EDT on Sunday, March 22, 2020

This is the largest, 180-feet-diameter about the size of Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa speeding towards Earth at 18,000 mph.

4)  2020  FF1 –  Closest approach at 6:09 PM EDT on Sunday, March 22, 2020

This one has a 49-feet-diameter moving towards Earth and will be far out there at 443,000 miles from Earth when it zips by at 29,000 mph.

Chelyabinsk Bollide Airburst 

Meteor fireball seen from Kamensk-Uralsky, Russia, on February 15, 2013, at dawn when the space rock moving at 42,900 mph exploded in a fiery air burst that damaged 7,200 buildings, collapsed a factory roof and shattered many windows. Image by Aleksandr Ivanov.

A memorable air burst in recent years was on February 15, 2013, when the Chelyabinsk meteor approached Russia at 42,900 mph. It lighted the sky over the southern Ural region brighter than our Sun. Some people said they could feel intense heat from the fiery bollide. Then it exploded over Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, because it was coming in at such a high speed and shallow angle altitude of 97,000 feet. That explosive air burst caused a large shock wave and showers of broken up rocks that were felt and seen over a large area of Chelyabinsk.

Also see:

01-09-2018 – 

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More Information:

09-15-2011 – 

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Websites:

Center for Near Earth Object Studies (NASA):

“The Probability of Collisions with Earth by Asteroids”:

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All Rights Reserved.

Scientists Just Watched A Newfound Asteroid Zoom By Earth. Then They Saw Its Moon. Asteroid News

One of Earth's premier instruments for studying . 

A Huge Asteroid Will Squeak By Earth In 2029, And You’ll Be Able To See It Without A Telescope Asteroid 2029

Roughly a decade from now, a rather sizable space rock is going to have a very close encounter with Earth — on Friday the 13th, no less. On April 13th, 2029, the asteroid known as Apophis will pass by Earth at a distance of just 19,000 miles.

For a bit of context, the Moon is somewhere between 225,000 and 252,000 miles away at any given time. Yeah, this is going to be one seriously close shave, but as reports it’s going to be a day of celebration for scientists rather than fear, and the next decade will give researchers around the world an opportunity for something of a end-of-the-world “dry run” as they explore what measures they might one day have to take if a large space rock would ever threaten our survival.

At the annual Planetary Defense Conference being held this week in Maryland, scientists discussed the wide ranging research opportunities that the asteroid flyby will provide, while offering insights into what the general public can expect when the rock makes its pass.

One particularly interesting note is that the 1,100-foot-wide asteroid will pass so close to Earth that it’ll be visible without the need for a telescope. It’ll be bright enough that scientists say it’ll be easily spotted with the naked eye, appearing similar to a star in the night sky, only moving very rapidly.

It’s important to remember that Apophis poses . Its path has been plotted and studied in great detail and it’s clear at this point that there’s no chance of it hitting Earth… at least in 2029. Looking into the future, it’s more difficult to predict the space rock’s trajectory due to the potential of Earth’s gravity to alter its course.

At present, it doesn’t appear as though the rock will pose a threat during its flybys after 2060, but astronomers can’t completely rule it out. If Apophis were to one day appear to be on a collision course with Earth, scientists will be extremely familiar with it by that point and the work being done between now and 2029 could come in handy.

Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games for the past decade, covering breaking news and trends in VR, wearables, smartphones, and future tech. Most recently, Mike served as Tech Editor at The Daily Dot, and has been featured in USA Today, Time.com, and countless other web and print outlets. His love of reporting is second only to his gaming addiction.

Difference Between Asteroid And Comet | Compare The Difference Between Similar Terms Asteroids Vs Meteorites

May 21, 2014 Posted by

Asteroid vs Comet

 

Asteroids and comets are celestial bodies, which are smaller in size compared to the planets and their moons. They belong to the category of astronomical objects known as “Planetoids”.

What are Asteroids?

Asteroids are small, irregularly shaped, rocky celestial bodies in space, and they have the meaning “minor planets”. There are millions of Asteroids in space and the majority of the observed and known asteroids reside in orbits around the sun, located between Mars and Jupiter. This region is known as the Asteroid belt. Asteroids have elliptical orbits; i.e. they have low eccentricity, and the variation of the distance between the sun and the asteroid does not change largely. Orbital periods of the asteroids range from tens to hundreds of years.

Asteroids are believed to be the remnants from the early stages of planet formation, and most of the Asteroids in the asteroid belt are believed to be originated within the orbit of Jupiter. Mainly asteroids consist of solid material, such as metals and rocks, and they are inactive. They have irregular shapes as a result of the low mass of the body, which does not generate enough gravitational pull to acquire hydrostatic equilibrium before they solidify.

Sizes of the asteroids vary from hundreds of meters to hundreds of kilometers, but the majority (about 99%) of the asteroids has sizes below 1km. Largest asteroid known is Ceres which is located within the Asteroid belt.  

What are Comets?

Comets are small icy bodies which produces a visible atmosphere when passing close to the sun. The heat from the sun turns the ices into gases and creates a gaseous shell called a coma around the body. Intense solar wind and radiation blows the atmosphere to create a tail pointing away from the sun.  If the comets are in a visible range from the earth, it usually produces a spectacular scene in the night sky. For this reason comets are much widely known among the general public. In fact, comets were known to men before asteroids, because they were observable by the naked eye.

Most of the comets originate in the Kuiper Belt and in the Oort cloud, the regions in the outer rim of the solar system consisting of small icy bodies. When disturbed by an external force these icy bodies leave their low eccentric orbit around the sun and enter a highly elongated orbit with high eccentricity. When travelling through outer regions, these smaller bodies are inactive and accumulate material around them in the space.

In addition to nucleus, coma and tail, another feature can be observed on the surface of a comet. Surface of a comet in its inactive stages are rocky and are covered with dust accumulated from space. The ices are hidden beneath the surface about a meter below. Due to solar radiation the vaporized gasses exits the nucleus through fissures and cavities on the surface with high velocity to create visible gas jets. Majority of the material on a comet is water (H₂O) ice, among frozen carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), and Methane (CH₄). Organic compounds methanol, ethanol, ethane, and hydrogen cyanide can also be found on a comet in smaller amounts. 

When the comet becomes active the surface activity increases and becomes volatile and the shape of the comet changes during this period. 

Some comets are from outer space and have hyperbolic orbits. These comets travel through the solar system only once and catapulted ti interstellar space by the suns gravity ever to return. However, many of the comets resides inside the solar system in highly elongated elliptic orbits and comes near the sun periodically and becomes active. When moving away from the sun at the outer edges of the solar system, the nucleus replenishes its ice by accumulating the material in the colder surroundings. Though the accumulation is slower than the loss during the active stage, gradually the comet becomes dry and turns into an asteroid.

What is the difference between Asteroids and Comets?

• Asteroids mostly reside in the Asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Comets mostly reside in the Kuiper Belt beyond the orbit of Neptune and in the Oort cloud of outer solar system.

• Asteroids are formed inside the orbit of the Jupiter while comets are formed in the outer edges of the solar system.

• Sizes of the asteroids vary from few centimeters to 900kms while the sizes of the comets range from 10 km to 50kms.

• Asteroids consist mainly of rocky and metal material while comets contain large amounts of frozen gases (water ice, carbon dioxide ice and carbon monoxide ice) along with hydrocarbons with a rocky structure.

• Comet surface is very unstable and changing when active, but asteroids surface is stable and steady with identifiable geography such as craters.

• Asteroids have no coma or tail while comets have both when near sun.

• Asteroids have low eccentricity elliptic orbits while comets have highly elongated elliptic orbits.