In our solar system today there are over 30 000 asteroids flying around in
all directions colliding with other asteroids and planets not caring about the
destruction they might convey. Our planet Earth is caught right in the middle of
all of this action and is liable to entire extinction of any life forms on the
planet if a large enough asteroid crosses its path.
Any one single asteroid has the possibility to erase thousands of years of
history and wipeout the human race as we know it. Asteroids are large or small
chunks of rock and metal flying around space up to speeds of 80 000 km/h. These
chunks were believed to have formed millions of years ago during the big bang.
These rocks didn’t form any planets and were stuck floating around space on
their own or in the gravitation of the asteroid belt.
This belt is approximately 300 million miles from the Sun and it contains
thousands of asteroids some being miles in diameter. Another theory of the
formation of asteroids is that a planet between Mars and Jupiter once existed
and after many years it exploded into thousands of pieces that are still
revolving around the sun in the form of an asteroid belt. Other asteroids are
formed when large meteors collide with large asteroids creating more small ones.
These meteors can also collide with planets breaking off chunks of the crust
into space. Ceres is believed to be the biggest asteroid that was in space at
one point in time. Ceres was believed to be 600 miles wide making up 1/3 of the
total mass of all asteroids. Ceres was the first asteroid discovered and was
found in 1801. There are two main types of asteroids; the first dominates the
outer part of the belt and are found to be rich in carbon, the second group are
located in the inside of the belt and are found to be rich in minerals. The
average temperature of the surface of an asteroid is approximately -73 degrees
C.
Many people don’t know that every year over 50 000 small asteroids called
meteors hit the Earth every year. These meteors are the outside layer of larger
asteroids that have been chipped off or are the surface of other planets that
have detached from their positions when hit with larger asteroids. Asteroids
sometimes align with Earth when meteors flying through space collide with other
asteroids in the belt causing pieces to break off and head in all directions.
Sometimes these pieces just happen to get aligned with Earth. However,
scientists are trying to discover a way in which they can detonate a nuclear
bomb close to the asteroid causing it to change rotation and therefore change
its course.
This is very dangerous because if the asteroid explodes it will make even
more of a mess when hundreds of pieces are then on course with the Earth.
Asteroids are found all over space but are most abundant in the asteroid belt
between Mars and Jupiter. This belt holds about 2000 asteroids all of different
shapes and sizes. This belt has its own gravitational pull and all of the
asteroids in it revolve around the Sun. It is believed that this belt was formed
when planet X exploded.
Although the majority of asteroids are found in this belt and are generally
stuck in its gravitational pull, they are sometimes jarred from their positions
from the impact of other asteroids that are constantly floating through space.
Although asteroids could destroy Earth if they come in contact with it, small
meteors that hit Earth are found to be great discoveries.
These small space rocks that have been chipped off of other planets such as
Saturn or Mars are a great way of studying other planets surfaces without having
to travel millions of miles for samples. They come to us. If it wasn’t for
asteroids hitting the Earth, we might not be here today. Millions of years ago
when the Earth was forming it was a giant ball made of liquid molten. Over a
long period of time asteroids hit the Earth at tremendous velocities causing
them to join the molten and create a crust for life.
