NASA says data from its Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer has yielded a new, improved family tree for asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. Millions of infrared snapshots from the asteroid-hunting portion of the WISE all-sky survey, called NEOWISE, have helped identify 28 new asteroid "families," NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., reported Wednesday. An asteroid family is formed when a collision breaks a large parent body into fragments of various sizes. The snapshots helped place thousands of previously hidden and uncategorized asteroids into families for the first time, a critical step in understanding the origins of asteroid families and the collisions thought to have created these rocky clans, researchers said. "NEOWISE has given us the data for a much more detailed look at the evolution of asteroids throughout the solar system," Lindley Johnson of the Near-Earth Object Observation Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington said. "This will help us trace the NEOs back to their sources and understand how some of them have migrated to orbits hazardous to Earth." The main asteroid belt is a major source of near-Earth objects, those asteroids and comets that come within 28 million miles of Earth's orbit around the sun
GMT 16:03 2018 Wednesday ,28 November
Executive Office of Arab Ministers of Communications starts in CairoGMT 09:12 2018 Thursday ,15 November
Syria, Iran discuss enhancing scientific cooperationGMT 17:45 2018 Wednesday ,31 October
Next expedition may go to ISS on 3 DecemberGMT 13:56 2018 Saturday ,27 October
Head of Soviet space shuttle program dies aged 89GMT 15:58 2018 Monday ,15 October
Crew scheduled to go to ISS to remain unchangedGMT 10:57 2018 Saturday ,13 October
Expert says crewless ISS poses risk of station’s lossGMT 18:49 2018 Thursday ,11 October
Soyuz-FG suffers setback in 165th second of flightGMT 17:53 2018 Sunday ,07 October
Science, technologies to be bridge between Russian and JapanMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor