Description
Asteroids are the leftover rocky materials from the formation of the
Solar System that reside mainly in a broad belt between the orbits of
Mars and Jupiter. Meteoroids are fragments of asteroids or bits of
debris from passing comets that occasionally pass through our atmosphere
as meteors, and even more rarely survive the fiery passage to reach the
ground as a meteorite. This lecture reviews the physical and dynamical
(orbital) properties of Asteroids and Meteoroids, and discusses the role
of Jupiter and orbital resonances in dynamically sculpting the Main
Belt. Recorded 2006 Nov 27 in 100 Stillman Hall on the Columbus campus
of The Ohio State University.
A new podcast, Astronomy 141, Life in the Universe, is available
for those interested in continuing an exploration of topics in
modern astronomy.
Published 12/06/09
Are there planets around other stars? Are there Earth-like planets
around other stars? Do any of those harbor life? Intelligent life?
We'd like to know the answers to all of these questions, and in recent
years we've made great progress towards at least answering the first.
To date, more...
Published 12/01/06