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G.
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OMICAL
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CEPTS
PLANETARIUM
STARDOME OBSERVATORY & TIES ON...
TIVI
FACTS, RESOURCES AND AC
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ANCIENT A
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Near Earth Asteroid map.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
t, ice
forming there was gas, dus
When our solar system was
thought that most
is
It
.
Sun
tral
cen
our
and rock swirling around
to be’ that was
k and ice from a ‘planet
asteroids are pieces of roc
’s strong
iter
lf together. Nearby Jup
prevented from pulling itse
and
lide
col
to
m
the
sing
pieces cau
gravity kept pulling at the
chance.
a
od
sto
er
nev
be
to
scatter so our little planet
d together
or just piles of rubble hel
Asteroids are either solid
.
by their own tiny gravity
n into three
asteroids by compositio
d
Scientists have classifie
rites) probably
ond
(ch
s
ype
Most are C-t
main types: C, S, and M.
k. The
dar
ate rocks and are quite
made up of clay and silic
materials
ate
silic
of
up
de
hter and ma
S-types (stony) are brig
) which
iron
s are metallic (nickeland nickel-iron. The M-type
the future
ut
abo
king
thin
are
ht. People
are also reasonably brig
s!
goe
car
us
roids for their precio
possibilities of mining aste
g
roid compositions by usin
Scientists understand aste
Radar
light coming from them.
the
dy
stu
spectroscopy to
studied.
and
s
roid
aste
off
d
nce
signals have also been bou
ncy sent the
ospace Exploration Age
In 2005 the Japanese Aer
a sample in
h
wit
roid and returned
Hayabusa probe to an aste
and hopes
6
201
in
d
che
laun
x probe
2010. NASA’s OSIRIS-Re
3.
to return a sample in 202
with Earth
rocks that have impacted
ce
Scientists also study spa
200 impact
e
Som
s.
roid
aste
ich are from
(meteorites) many of wh
impacts
st
mo
ied on Earth. Fortunately,
craters have been identif
that
one
the
e
(lik
rare
are
collisions
are small and catastrophic
of the dinosaurs).
crashed during the time
learned that
Asteroids – part one’ we
In our resource ‘Ancient
s of the solar
ion
reg
s
s exist in variou
different groups of asteroid
asteroids
arth
r-E
nea
is
n
cer
con
most
system. The category of
ups, but
gro
re
mo
n
ided up into eve
(NEA’s). NEA’s can be div
orbit.
th’s
Ear
ss
cro
r
eve
s,
Apollo
only two, the Atens and
A) map reveals
ly hazardous asteroid’ (PH
tial
ten
‘po
ent
NASA’s rec
, but remember
bad
k
s. The map might loo
the orbits of 1,400 object
n 150 metres
tha
er
larg
s
ect
obj
PHA’s are
that space is really huge.
ice the Moon’s
(tw
th
million kilometres of Ear
that can pass within 7.5
at.
thre
a
tly
are curren
distance). None of these
roids and searching
constantly tracking aste
are
ide
rldw
Astronomers wo
asteroids that
est
larg
fident that >90% of the
for others. They are con
There are
.
ied
ntif
ide
n
bee
have already
could endanger the Earth
Coordination
e
enc
h as NASA’s Planetary Def
programmes in place, suc
acts.
imp
ous
ger
dan
rt
s to help ave
Office, that investigate way
Barringer crater Arizona – the result of an iron
meteorite impact 50,000 years ago. Credit: NASA
100 tons of asteroid and comet material
hit Earth’s atmosphere every day.
‑•••‑
Water ice may be common on asteroids.
‑•••‑
As at October 2016,
15,000 ‘near-Earth asteroids’
have been discovered.
Check out these other resources...
http://www.space.com/51-asteroids-formation-discovery-and-exploration.html
http://www.space.com/22369-nasa-asteroid-threat-map.html
https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense
How dangerous are
Discuss the pros and cons of
NEA’s?
Research and
asteroid mining. What things would discuss recent
impacts.
we look for? Would we look
for water and why?
DISCUSSION
POINTS
STARDOME.ORG.NZ
09 624 1246
ACTIVITY
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S
D
I
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APARST T
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:
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You’ll need...
Crater Name
/
rth.google.com
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oogle Earth – do
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Instructions...
Latitude
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50,000 years old
le Earth
to find in Goog
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One of the oldes
s
Clearwater Lake
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Two impact cra
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formed by a pa
asteroids
Upheaval Dome
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Has a central pe
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inner crater, an
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concentric shoc
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With thanks to
rth.eu
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http://educatio
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09 624 1246
ACTIVITY
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APARST TWO: DISCUSS THE PROBAABRITLHIT. Y
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PBS NOVA Educ
With thanks to
/education
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http://www.pb
send it to us.
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Ta
ardome.org.nz
We’d love to see it! education@st
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