What are asteroids made of and how are they formed?

asteroids space rocks. No matter their size, as big as planets or as small as a soccer ball, these celestial wanderers are basically made of stone, some silicates, clay, different metals, and even water, some experts claim.

We now know more than a million of them. Yet the combined mass of all of them does not reach that of our moon. Find out more about these fascinating space objects.

asteroids They are very interesting celestial bodies and have a wide variety of properties. They appear in different formats. Many are irregular, while others may be practically spherical. Some even have holes and craters on the surface.

A piece moves in elliptical orbits around the Sun and can crash into planets and moons. Others are limited to two main belts in our system: the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, and an even larger one after Neptune.

How are asteroids formed?

4.6 billion years ago, a huge cloud of space gas and dust collapsed. Most of this material was clustered at the high gravity point in the center of the region, but the rest was scattered around.

This is the story of the formation of our sun and solar system. Gradually, space dust not included in the star began to gather and give way to planets. However, some of the debris remained and concentrated in our neighborhoods and survived until today.

What is the composition of an asteroid?

The composition of a space object is determined by its emission spectrum, which can identify chemical elements present in a substance from the light it emits. So, most asteroids can be classified into three types.

• Type-C (chondrites): they consist of clay and silicate, they are very common. Dark in appearance, they are probably among the oldest to be created.
• Type-S (stony): rich in silicates and nickel-iron. They make up about 17% of them. asteroids It is known and the most intense.
• Type-M (nickel-iron): They have the highest percentage of iron in the entire composition. On the other hand, they are the least abundant.

Classification of asteroids

A long time, asteroids Confused astronomers around the world. To date, there is no official classification for the term, and the International Astronomical Union prefers the name Small Objects of the Solar System to refer to anything smaller than a planet.

This is why, according to some, the first asteroid discovered was Ceres in 1801. Originally classified as a planet, the corpse resides in the belt of the rainbow. asteroids and today it is officially called a dwarf planet.

Other large bodies in the same region are Pallas and Vesta, which are considered protoplanetary. belt asteroids It groups most of what is known to man and was formed due to the great gravity Jupiter exerted in the region.

Trojans are another large group of these objects. They share an orbit with a larger planet, being pulled by the massive object’s gravity, without ever colliding with it.

This can create two special points in orbits. In these places, the gravity exerted by the planet is balanced by that of the sun, and rocks that pass through are trapped in this region.

Jupiter accumulates the most Trojans, but Mars, Neptune, and even Earth have a few orbital companions.

In 1977, new inhabitants were discovered on the fringes of our planetary system. Originally called centaurs, some experts question whether these corpses can be valued. asteroids.

The particularly large number of discoveries around the then planet Pluto (now a dwarf planet) has led astronomers to classify the region as a new Kuiper belt.

The site is the richest rock in our system and includes other dwarf planets such as Orcus, Haumea, Quaoar, and Makemake. In these cold regions, space rocks are covered with ice and therefore resemble comets.

There are two other classifications that are important to astronomers. asteroids Close to Earth are those in orbit close to us. And geocruisers are the ones that cross our orbit.

Scientists watch the latter with particular attention, because they represent a real risk of hitting the Earth, which can lead to immeasurable catastrophes. Radar is the main tool used in the planet’s surveillance system.

Leftovers during the formation of the Solar System, these objects were not included in the existing planets and have traveled through space, arousing the curiosity and curiosity of anyone who dared to look up at the sky.