Rock Legends: The Asteroids and Their DiscoverersSpringer, 13 lip 2016 - 207 This book relates the history of asteroid discoveries and christenings, from those of the early pioneering giants of Hersehel and Piazzi to modern-day amateurs. Moving from history and anecdotal information to science, the book's structure is provided by the names of the asteroids, including one named after the author. Free from a need to conform to scientific naming conventions, the names evidence hero-worship, sycophancy, avarice, vanity, whimsy, erudition and wit, revealing the human side of astronomers, especially where controversy has followed the christening. Murdin draws from extensive historical records to explore the debate over these names. Each age reveals its own biases and preferences in the naming process. “/p> Originally regarded as “vermin of the skies,” asteroids are minor planets, rocky scraps left over from the formation of the larger planets, or broken fragments of worlds that have collided. Their scientific classification as “minor” planets makes them seem unimportant, but over the past decades asteroids have been acknowledged to be key players in the Solar System. This view of their starring role even alters the trajectories of spacecraft: NASA’s policy for new space missions en route to the outer planets is that they must divert to study passing asteroids whenever possible. This book provides for readers a complete tour of the fascinating world of asteroids. |
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... calculation to predict the future orbits of asteroids. It was so notoriously difficult that in 1914-15, the author Arthur Conan Doyle used it as a marker for the intellectual prowess of Professor James Moriarty, the master criminal and ...
... calculations arises from the shifting backdrop of intermittent interactions between the major and minor planets, and the phenomenon of chaos was first recognized here. The minor planets form a laboratory for the study of chaos in the ...
... calculated. In the 19 h following the discovery of 2008 TC3,27 amateur and professional astronomers made over 1000 observations of it. Its orbit was quickly calculated by the University of Pisa and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Sentry ...
... calculations? Had something gone astray as the positional data was transmitted to La Palma? Just as they were about to panic, their attention was caught by something moving onto the edge of the TV picture. The asteroid was venturing ...
... calculations from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and adding new calculations of the possible trajectory of the meteor as it curved and tumbled through the air. The search area was 28 sq. km (11 sq. miles) in extent, a long box aligned ...
Spis treści
1 | |
13 | |
Finding Asteroids by Eye | 25 |
Finding and Investigating Asteroids Using Technology | 49 |
Naming and Possessing | 63 |
The Catalog and the Names It Inspires | 101 |
At the Edge of the Solar System | 119 |
Filling the Gap | 139 |
Ruled by the Planets | 159 |
The Chaos of the Solar System | 167 |
The Fate of Asteroids | 183 |
References and Sources | 187 |
Index of Named People | 195 |
Index of Planet Moon Asteroid Meteor and Crater Names | 200 |