Asteroid

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Asteroids)
For other uses, see Asteroid (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Astroid.

Images of visited asteroids illustrating their differences: (top row) 433 Eros and 243
Ida with its moon Dactyl, (bottom row) Ceres and 101955 Bennu. Sizes are not to
scale.
An asteroid is a minor planet—an object that is neither a true planet nor an
identified comet— that orbits within the inner Solar System. They are rocky,
metallic, or icy bodies with no atmosphere, classified as C-
type (carbonaceous), M-type (metallic), or S-type (silicaceous). The size
and shape of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from small rubble piles
under a kilometer across and larger than meteoroids, to Ceres, a dwarf
planet almost 1000 km in diameter. A body is classified as a comet, not an
asteroid, if it shows a coma (tail) when warmed by solar radiation, although
recent observations suggest a continuum between these types of bodies.[1][2]

Of the roughly one million known asteroids,[3] the greatest number are
located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, approximately 2 to
4 AU from the Sun, in a region known as the main asteroid belt. The total
mass of all the asteroids combined is only 3% that of Earth's Moon. The
majority of main belt asteroids follow slightly elliptical, stable orbits,
revolving in the same direction as the Earth and taking from three to six
years to complete a full circuit of the Sun.[4]

Asteroids have historically been observed from Earth. The first close-up
observation of an asteroid was made by the Galileo spacecraft. Several
dedicated missions to asteroids were subsequently launched
by NASA and JAXA, with plans for other missions in progress.
NASA's NEAR Shoemaker studied Eros,
and Dawn observed Vesta and Ceres. JAXA's
missions Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 studied and returned samples
of Itokawa and Ryugu, respectively. OSIRIS-REx studied Bennu, collecting
a sample in 2020 which was delivered back to Earth in 2023. NASA's Lucy,
launched in 2021, is tasked with studying ten different asteroids, two from
the main belt and eight Jupiter trojans. Psyche, launched October 2023,
aims to study the metallic asteroid Psyche.

Near-Earth asteroids can threaten all life on the planet, as in

the impact which may have inflicted the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction.
As an experiment to meet this danger, in September 2022 the Double
Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft successfully altered the orbit of the
non-threatening asteroid Dimorphos by crashing into it.

Terminology
[edit]
A composite image, to the same scale, of the asteroids imaged at high resolution
prior to 2012. They are, from largest to smallest: 4 Vesta, 21 Lutetia, 253
Mathilde, 243 Ida and its moon Dactyl, 433 Eros, 951 Gaspra, 2867 Šteins, 25143
Itokawa.

Vesta (left), with Ceres (center) and the Moon (right) shown to scale

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) introduced the currently

preferred broad term small Solar System body, defined as an object in
the Solar System that is neither a planet, a dwarf planet, nor a natural
satellite; this includes asteroids, comets, and more recently discovered
classes.[5] According to IAU, "the term 'minor planet' may still be used, but
generally, 'Small Solar System Body' will be preferred."[6]

Historically, the first discovered asteroid, Ceres, was at first considered a

new planet.[a] It was followed by the discovery of other similar bodies, which
with the equipment of the time appeared to be points of light like stars,
showing little or no planetary disc, though readily distinguishable from stars
due to their apparent motions. This prompted the astronomer Sir William
Herschel to propose the term asteroid,[b] coined in Greek as ἀστεροειδής,
or asteroeidēs, meaning 'star-like, star-shaped', and derived from the
Ancient Greek ἀστήρ astēr 'star, planet'. In the early second half of the 19th
century, the terms asteroid and planet (not always qualified as "minor")
were still used interchangeably.[c]

Traditionally, small bodies orbiting the Sun were classified as comets,

asteroids, or meteoroids, with anything smaller than one meter across
being called a meteoroid. The term asteroid, never officially defined,[11] but
can be informally used to mean "an irregularly shaped rocky body orbiting
the Sun that does not qualify as a planet or a dwarf planet under the IAU
definitions".[12] The main difference between an asteroid and a comet is that
a comet shows a coma (tail) due to sublimation of its near-surface ices by
solar radiation. A few objects were first classified as minor planets but later
showed evidence of cometary activity. Conversely, some (perhaps all)
comets are eventually depleted of their surface volatile ices and become
asteroid-like. A further distinction is that comets typically have more
eccentric orbits than most asteroids; highly eccentric asteroids are probably
dormant or extinct comets.[13]

The minor planets beyond Jupiter's orbit are sometimes also called
"asteroids", especially in popular presentations.[d] However, it is becoming
increasingly common for the term asteroid to be restricted to minor planets
of the inner Solar System.[15] Therefore, this article will restrict itself for the
most part to the classical asteroids: objects of the asteroid belt, Jupiter
trojans, and near-Earth objects.

For almost two centuries after the discovery of Ceres in 1801, all known
asteroids spent most of their time at or within the orbit of Jupiter, though a
few, such as 944 Hidalgo, ventured farther for part of their orbit. Starting in
1977 with 2060 Chiron, astronomers discovered small bodies that
permanently resided further out than Jupiter, now called centaurs. In
1992, 15760 Albion was discovered, the first object beyond the orbit of
Neptune (other than Pluto); soon large numbers of similar objects were
observed, now called trans-Neptunian object. Further out are Kuiper-belt
objects, scattered-disc objects, and the much more distant Oort cloud,
hypothesized to be the main reservoir of dormant comets. They inhabit the
cold outer reaches of the Solar System where ices remain solid and comet-
like bodies exhibit little cometary activity; if centaurs or trans-Neptunian
objects were to venture close to the Sun, their volatile ices
would sublimate, and traditional approaches would classify them as
comets.

The Kuiper-belt bodies are called "objects" partly to avoid the need to
classify them as asteroids or comets.[15] They are thought to be
predominantly comet-like in composition, though some may be more akin
to asteroids.[16] Most do not have the highly eccentric orbits associated with
comets, and the ones so far discovered are larger than traditional comet
nuclei. Other recent observations, such as the analysis of the cometary
dust collected by the Stardust probe, are increasingly blurring the
distinction between comets and asteroids,[1] suggesting "a continuum
between asteroids and comets" rather than a sharp dividing line.[2]

In 2006, the IAU created the class of dwarf planets for the largest minor
planets—those massive enough to have become ellipsoidal under their
own gravity. Only the largest object in the asteroid belt has been placed in
this category: Ceres, at about 975 km (606 mi) across.[17][18]

History of observations
[edit]
Despite their large numbers, asteroids are a relatively recent discovery,
with the first one—Ceres—only being identified in 1801.[19] Only one
asteroid, 4 Vesta, which has a relatively reflective surface, is normally
visible to the naked eye in dark skies when it is favorably positioned.
Rarely, small asteroids passing close to Earth may be briefly visible to the
naked eye.[20] As of April 2022, the Minor Planet Center had data on
1,199,224 minor planets in the inner and outer Solar System, of which
about 614,690 had enough information to be given numbered designations.
[21]

Discovery of Ceres
[edit]
In 1772, German astronomer Johann Elert Bode, citing Johann Daniel
Titius, published a numerical procession known as the Titius–Bode
law (now discredited). Except for an unexplained gap between Mars and
Jupiter, Bode's formula seemed to predict the orbits of the known planets.[22]
[23]
He wrote the following explanation for the existence of a "missing
planet":

This latter point seems in particular to follow from the astonishing relation
which the known six planets observe in their distances from the Sun. Let
the distance from the Sun to Saturn be taken as 100, then Mercury is
separated by 4 such parts from the Sun. Venus is 4 + 3 = 7. The Earth 4 +
6 = 10. Mars 4 + 12 = 16. Now comes a gap in this so orderly progression.
After Mars there follows a space of 4 + 24 = 28 parts, in which no planet
has yet been seen. Can one believe that the Founder of the universe had
left this space empty? Certainly not. From here we come to the distance of
Jupiter by 4 + 48 = 52 parts, and finally to that of Saturn by 4 + 96 = 100
parts.[24]
Bode's formula predicted another planet would be found with an orbital
radius near 2.8 astronomical units (AU), or 420 million km, from the Sun.
[23]
The Titius–Bode law got a boost with William Herschel's discovery
of Uranus near the predicted distance for a planet beyond Saturn.[22] In
1800, a group headed by Franz Xaver von Zach, editor of the German
astronomical journal Monatliche Correspondenz (Monthly
Correspondence), sent requests to 24 experienced astronomers (whom he
dubbed the "celestial police"),[23] asking that they combine their efforts and
begin a methodical search for the expected planet.[23] Although they did not
discover Ceres, they later found the asteroids 2 Pallas, 3 Juno and 4 Vesta.
[23]

One of the astronomers selected for the search was Giuseppe Piazzi, a
Catholic priest at the Academy of Palermo, Sicily. Before receiving his
invitation to join the group, Piazzi discovered Ceres on 1 January 1801.
[25]
He was searching for "the 87th [star] of the Catalogue of the Zodiacal
stars of Mr la Caille",[22] but found that "it was preceded by another".
[22]
Instead of a star, Piazzi had found a moving star-like object, which he
first thought was a comet:[26]

The light was a little faint, and of the colour of Jupiter, but similar to many
others which generally are reckoned of the eighth magnitude. Therefore I
had no doubt of its being any other than a fixed star. [...] The evening of the
third, my suspicion was converted into certainty, being assured it was not a
fixed star. Nevertheless before I made it known, I waited till the evening of
the fourth, when I had the satisfaction to see it had moved at the same rate
as on the preceding days.[22]
Piazzi observed Ceres a total of 24 times, the final time on 11 February
1801, when illness interrupted his work. He announced his discovery on 24
January 1801 in letters to only two fellow astronomers, his
compatriot Barnaba Oriani of Milan and Bode in Berlin.[19] He reported it as
a comet but "since its movement is so slow and rather uniform, it has
occurred to me several times that it might be something better than a
comet".[22] In April, Piazzi sent his complete observations to Oriani, Bode,
and French astronomer Jérôme Lalande. The information was published in
the September 1801 issue of the Monatliche Correspondenz.[26]

By this time, the apparent position of Ceres had changed (mostly due to
Earth's motion around the Sun), and was too close to the Sun's glare for
other astronomers to confirm Piazzi's observations. Toward the end of the
year, Ceres should have been visible again, but after such a long time it
was difficult to predict its exact position. To recover Ceres,
mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, then 24 years old, developed
an efficient method of orbit determination.[26] In a few weeks, he predicted
the path of Ceres and sent his results to von Zach. On 31 December 1801,
von Zach and fellow celestial policeman Heinrich W. M. Olbers found Ceres
near the predicted position and thus recovered it.[26] At 2.8 AU from the Sun,
Ceres appeared to fit the Titius–Bode law almost perfectly; however,
Neptune, once discovered in 1846, was 8 AU closer than predicted, leading
most astronomers to conclude that the law was a coincidence.[27] Piazzi
named the newly discovered object Ceres Ferdinandea, "in honor of
the patron goddess of Sicily and of King Ferdinand of Bourbon".[24]
Further search
[edit]

Sizes of the first ten discovered asteroids,

compared to the Moon
Three other asteroids (2 Pallas, 3 Juno, and 4 Vesta) were discovered by
von Zach's group over the next few years, with Vesta found in 1807.[23] No
new asteroids were discovered until 1845. Amateur astronomer Karl
Ludwig Hencke started his searches of new asteroids in 1830, and fifteen
years later, while looking for Vesta, he found the asteroid later named 5
Astraea. It was the first new asteroid discovery in 38 years. Carl Friedrich
Gauss was given the honor of naming the asteroid. After this, other
astronomers joined; 15 asteroids were found by the end of 1851. In 1868,
when James Craig Watson discovered the 100th asteroid, the French
Academy of Sciences engraved the faces of Karl Theodor Robert
Luther, John Russell Hind, and Hermann Goldschmidt, the three most
successful asteroid-hunters at that time, on a commemorative medallion
marking the event.[28]

In 1891, Max Wolf pioneered the use of astrophotography to detect

asteroids, which appeared as short streaks on long-exposure photographic
plates.[28] This dramatically increased the rate of detection compared with
earlier visual methods: Wolf alone discovered 248 asteroids, beginning
with 323 Brucia,[29] whereas only slightly more than 300 had been
discovered up to that point. It was known that there were many more, but
most astronomers did not bother with them, some calling them "vermin of
the skies",[30] a phrase variously attributed to Eduard Suess[31] and Edmund
Weiss.[32] Even a century later, only a few thousand asteroids were
identified, numbered and named.
19th and 20th centuries
[edit]

Cumulative discoveries of just the near-Earth

asteroids known by size, 1980–2024
In the past, asteroids were discovered by a four-step process. First, a
region of the sky was photographed by a wide-
field telescope or astrograph. Pairs of photographs were taken, typically
one hour apart. Multiple pairs could be taken over a series of days.
Second, the two films or plates of the same region were viewed under
a stereoscope. A body in orbit around the Sun would move slightly between
the pair of films. Under the stereoscope, the image of the body would seem
to float slightly above the background of stars. Third, once a moving body
was identified, its location would be measured precisely using a digitizing
microscope. The location would be measured relative to known star
locations.[33]

These first three steps do not constitute asteroid discovery: the observer
has only found an apparition, which gets a provisional designation, made
up of the year of discovery, a letter representing the half-month of
discovery, and finally a letter and a number indicating the discovery's
sequential number (example: 1998 FJ74). The last step is sending the
locations and time of observations to the Minor Planet Center, where
computer programs determine whether an apparition ties together earlier
apparitions into a single orbit. If so, the object receives a catalogue number
and the observer of the first apparition with a calculated orbit is declared
the discoverer, and granted the honor of naming the object subject to the
approval of the International Astronomical Union.[34]
Naming
[edit]
Main article: Minor planet § Naming

2013 EC, shown here in radar images, has a

provisional designation
By 1851, the Royal Astronomical Society decided that asteroids were being
discovered at such a rapid rate that a different system was needed to
categorize or name asteroids. In 1852, when de Gasparis discovered the
twentieth asteroid, Benjamin Valz gave it a name and a number
designating its rank among asteroid discoveries, 20 Massalia. Sometimes
asteroids were discovered and not seen again. So, starting in 1892, new
asteroids were listed by the year and a capital letter indicating the order in
which the asteroid's orbit was calculated and registered within that specific
year. For example, the first two asteroids discovered in 1892 were labeled
1892A and 1892B. However, there were not enough letters in the alphabet
for all of the asteroids discovered in 1893, so 1893Z was followed by
1893AA. A number of variations of these methods were tried, including
designations that included year plus a Greek letter in 1914. A simple
chronological numbering system was established in 1925.[28][35]

Currently all newly discovered asteroids receive a provisional

designation (such as 2002 AT4) consisting of the year of discovery and an
alphanumeric code indicating the half-month of discovery and the
sequence within that half-month. Once an asteroid's orbit has been
confirmed, it is given a number, and later may also be given a name
(e.g. 433 Eros). The formal naming convention uses parentheses around
the number—e.g. (433) Eros—but dropping the parentheses is quite
common. Informally, it is also common to drop the number altogether, or to
drop it after the first mention when a name is repeated in running text.[36] In
addition, names can be proposed by the asteroid's discoverer, within
guidelines established by the International Astronomical Union.[37]
Symbols
[edit]
Main article: Astronomical symbols
The first asteroids to be discovered were assigned iconic symbols like the
ones traditionally used to designate the planets. By 1855 there were two
dozen asteroid symbols, which often occurred in multiple variants.[38]

In 1851, after the fifteenth asteroid, Eunomia, had been discovered, Johann
Franz Encke made a major change in the upcoming 1854 edition of
the Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch (BAJ, Berlin Astronomical
Yearbook). He introduced a disk (circle), a traditional symbol for a star, as
the generic symbol for an asteroid. The circle was then numbered in order
of discovery to indicate a specific asteroid. The numbered-circle convention
was quickly adopted by astronomers, and the next asteroid to be
discovered (16 Psyche, in 1852) was the first to be designated in that way
at the time of its discovery. However, Psyche was given an iconic symbol
as well, as were a few other asteroids discovered over the next few
years. 20 Massalia was the first asteroid that was not assigned an iconic
symbol, and no iconic symbols were created after the 1855 discovery of 37
Fides.[e][39]

Formation
[edit]
Main article: Origin of the asteroid belt
Many asteroids are the shattered remnants of planetesimals, bodies within
the young Sun's solar nebula that never grew large enough to
become planets.[40] It is thought that planetesimals in the asteroid belt
evolved much like the rest of objects in the solar nebula until Jupiter neared
its current mass, at which point excitation from orbital resonances with
Jupiter ejected over 99% of planetesimals in the belt. Simulations and a
discontinuity in spin rate and spectral properties suggest that asteroids
larger than approximately 120 km (75 mi) in diameter accreted during that
early era, whereas smaller bodies are fragments from collisions between
asteroids during or after the Jovian disruption.[41] Ceres and Vesta grew
large enough to melt and differentiate, with heavy metallic elements sinking
to the core, leaving rocky minerals in the crust.[42]

In the Nice model, many Kuiper-belt objects are captured in the outer
asteroid belt, at distances greater than 2.6 AU. Most were later ejected by
Jupiter, but those that remained may be the D-type asteroids, and possibly
include Ceres.[43]

Distribution within the Solar System

[edit]
See also: List of minor-planet groups, List of notable asteroids, and List of
minor planets
 A top view of asteroid group

location in the inner solar system A map of

planets and asteroid groups of the inner solar system. Distances from sun
are to scale, object sizes are not.
Various dynamical groups of asteroids have been discovered orbiting in the
inner Solar System. Their orbits are perturbed by the gravity of other bodies
in the Solar System and by the Yarkovsky effect. Significant populations
include:
Asteroid belt
[edit]
Main article: Asteroid belt
The majority of known asteroids orbit within the asteroid belt between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter, generally in relatively low-eccentricity (i.e. not
very elongated) orbits. This belt is estimated to contain between 1.1 and
1.9 million asteroids larger than 1 km (0.6 mi) in diameter,[44] and millions of
smaller ones. These asteroids may be remnants of the protoplanetary disk,
and in this region the accretion of planetesimals into planets during the
formative period of the Solar System was prevented by large gravitational
perturbations by Jupiter.

Contrary to popular imagery, the asteroid belt is mostly empty. The

asteroids are spread over such a large volume that reaching an asteroid
without aiming carefully would be improbable. Nonetheless, hundreds of
thousands of asteroids are currently known, and the total number ranges in
the millions or more, depending on the lower size cutoff. Over 200
asteroids are known to be larger than 100 km,[45] and a survey in the
infrared wavelengths has shown that the asteroid belt has between
700,000 and 1.7 million asteroids with a diameter of 1 km or more.
[46]
The absolute magnitudes of most of the known asteroids are between 11
and 19, with the median at about 16.[47]

The total mass of the asteroid belt is estimated to be 2.39×1021 kg, which is
just 3% of the mass of the Moon; the mass of the Kuiper Belt and Scattered
Disk is over 100 times as large.[48] The four largest objects, Ceres, Vesta,
Pallas, and Hygiea, account for maybe 62% of the belt's total mass, with
39% accounted for by Ceres alone.
Trojans
[edit]
Main article: Trojan (celestial body)
Trojans are populations that share an orbit with a larger planet or moon, but
do not collide with it because they orbit in one of the two Lagrangian
points of stability, L4 and L5, which lie 60° ahead of and behind the larger
body.

In the Solar System, most known trojans share the orbit of Jupiter. They
are divided into the Greek camp at L4 (ahead of Jupiter) and the Trojan
camp at L5 (trailing Jupiter). More than a million Jupiter trojans larger than
one kilometer are thought to exist,[49] of which more than 7,000 are currently
catalogued. In other planetary orbits only nine Mars trojans, 28 Neptune
trojans, two Uranus trojans, and two Earth trojans, have been found to
date. A temporary Venus trojan is also known. Numerical orbital dynamics
stability simulations indicate that Saturn and Uranus probably do not have
any primordial trojans.[50]
Near-Earth asteroids
[edit]
Main article: Near-Earth asteroids
Near-Earth asteroids, or NEAs, are asteroids that have orbits that pass
close to that of Earth. Asteroids that actually cross Earth's orbital path are
known as Earth-crossers. As of April 2022, a total of 28,772 near-Earth
asteroids were known; 878 have a diameter of one kilometer or larger.[51]

A small number of NEAs are extinct comets that have lost their volatile
surface materials, although having a faint or intermittent comet-like tail
does not necessarily result in a classification as a near-Earth comet,
making the boundaries somewhat fuzzy. The rest of the near-Earth
asteroids are driven out of the asteroid belt by gravitational interactions
with Jupiter.[52][53]

Many asteroids have natural satellites (minor-planet moons). As of

October 2021, there were 85 NEAs known to have at least one moon,
including three known to have two moons.[54] The asteroid 3122 Florence,
one of the largest potentially hazardous asteroids with a diameter of 4.5 km
(2.8 mi), has two moons measuring 100–300 m (330–980 ft) across, which
were discovered by radar imaging during the asteroid's 2017 approach to
Earth.[55]

Near-Earth asteroids are divided into groups based on their semi-major

axis (a), perihelion distance (q), and aphelion distance (Q):[56][52]
 The Atiras or Apoheles have orbits strictly inside Earth's orbit: an Atira
asteroid's aphelion distance (Q) is smaller than Earth's perihelion
distance (0.983 AU). That is, Q < 0.983 AU, which implies that the
asteroid's semi-major axis is also less than 0.983 AU.[57]
 The Atens have a semi-major axis of less than 1 AU and cross Earth's
orbit. Mathematically, a < 1.0 AU and Q > 0.983 AU. (0.983 AU is
Earth's perihelion distance.)
 The Apollos have a semi-major axis of more than 1 AU and cross
Earth's orbit. Mathematically, a > 1.0 AU and q < 1.017 AU. (1.017 AU is
Earth's aphelion distance.)
 The Amors have orbits strictly outside Earth's orbit: an Amor asteroid's
perihelion distance (q) is greater than Earth's aphelion distance
(1.017 AU). Amor asteroids are also near-earth objects so q < 1.3 AU. In
summary, 1.017 AU < q < 1.3 AU. (This implies that the asteroid's semi-
major axis (a) is also larger than 1.017 AU.) Some Amor asteroid orbits
cross the orbit of Mars.
Martian moons
[edit]
Main articles: Moons of Mars, Phobos (moon), and Deimos (moon)

Phobos

Deimos

It is unclear whether Martian moons Phobos and Deimos are captured

asteroids or were formed due to impact event on Mars.[58] Phobos and
Deimos both have much in common with carbonaceous C-type asteroids,
with spectra, albedo, and density very similar to those of C- or D-type
asteroids.[59] Based on their similarity, one hypothesis is that both moons
may be captured main-belt asteroids.[60][61] Both moons have very circular
orbits which lie almost exactly in Mars's equatorial plane, and hence a
capture origin requires a mechanism for circularizing the initially highly
eccentric orbit, and adjusting its inclination into the equatorial plane, most
probably by a combination of atmospheric drag and tidal forces,[62] although
it is not clear whether sufficient time was available for this to occur for
Deimos.[58] Capture also requires dissipation of energy. The current Martian
atmosphere is too thin to capture a Phobos-sized object by atmospheric
braking.[58] Geoffrey A. Landis has pointed out that the capture could have
occurred if the original body was a binary asteroid that separated under
tidal forces.[61][63]

Phobos could be a second-generation Solar System object

that coalesced in orbit after Mars formed, rather than forming concurrently
out of the same birth cloud as Mars.[64]

Another hypothesis is that Mars was once surrounded by many Phobos-

and Deimos-sized bodies, perhaps ejected into orbit around it by a collision
with a large planetesimal.[65] The high porosity of the interior of Phobos
(based on the density of 1.88 g/cm3, voids are estimated to comprise 25 to
35 percent of Phobos's volume) is inconsistent with an asteroidal origin.
[66]
Observations of Phobos in the thermal infrared suggest a composition
containing mainly phyllosilicates, which are well known from the surface of
Mars. The spectra are distinct from those of all classes
of chondrite meteorites, again pointing away from an asteroidal origin.
[67]
Both sets of findings support an origin of Phobos from material ejected
by an impact on Mars that reaccreted in Martian orbit,[68] similar to
the prevailing theory for the origin of Earth's moon.

Characteristics
[edit]
Size distribution
[edit]
 The asteroids of the Solar System,
categorized by size and number
Graphs are unavailable
due to technical issues.
There is more info
on Phabricator and
on [Link].
The masses of the largest asteroids in the main belt: 1 Ceres (blue), 4 Vesta, 2
Pallas, 10 Hygiea, 704 Interamnia, 15 Eunomia and the remainder of the Main Belt
(pink). The unit of mass is ×1018 kg.

Asteroids vary greatly in size, from almost 1000 km for the largest down to
rocks just 1 meter across, below which an object is classified as
a meteoroid.[f] The three largest are very much like miniature planets: they
are roughly spherical, have at least partly differentiated interiors,[69] and are
thought to be surviving protoplanets. The vast majority, however, are much
smaller and are irregularly shaped; they are thought to be either
battered planetesimals or fragments of larger bodies.

The dwarf planet Ceres is by far the largest asteroid, with a diameter of
940 km (580 mi). The next largest are 4 Vesta and 2 Pallas, both with
diameters of just over 500 km (300 mi). Vesta is the brightest of the four
main-belt asteroids that can, on occasion, be visible to the naked eye.[70] On
some rare occasions, a near-Earth asteroid may briefly become visible
without technical aid; see 99942 Apophis.

The mass of all the objects of the asteroid belt, lying between the orbits
of Mars and Jupiter, is estimated to be (2394±6)×1018 kg, ≈ 3.25% of the
mass of the Moon. Of this, Ceres comprises 938×1018 kg, about 40% of the
total. Adding in the next three most massive
objects, Vesta (11%), Pallas (8.5%), and Hygiea (3–4%), brings this figure
up to a bit over 60%, whereas the next seven most-massive asteroids bring
the total up to 70%.[48] The number of asteroids increases rapidly as their
individual masses decrease.

The number of asteroids decreases markedly with increasing size.

Although the size distribution generally follows a power law, there are
'bumps' at about 5 km and 100 km, where more asteroids than expected
from such a curve are found. Most asteroids larger than approximately
120 km in diameter are primordial (surviving from the accretion epoch),
whereas most smaller asteroids are products of fragmentation of primordial
asteroids. The primordial population of the main belt was probably 200
times what it is today.[71][72]
Largest asteroids
[edit]
See also: Largest asteroids

42 of the largest objects in the asteroid belt captured by ESO's Very Large
Telescope

Eros, Vesta and Ceres size comparison

Three largest objects in the asteroid belt, Ceres, Vesta, and Pallas, are
intact protoplanets that share many characteristics common to planets, and
are atypical compared to the majority of irregularly shaped asteroids. The
fourth-largest asteroid, Hygiea, appears nearly spherical although it may
have an undifferentiated interior,[73] like the majority of asteroids. The four
largest asteroids constitute half the mass of the asteroid belt.
Ceres is the only asteroid that appears to have a plastic shape under its
own gravity and hence the only one that is a dwarf planet.[74] It has a much
higher absolute magnitude than the other asteroids, of around 3.32,[75] and
may possess a surface layer of ice.[76] Like the planets, Ceres is
differentiated: it has a crust, a mantle and a core.[76] No meteorites from
Ceres have been found on Earth.[77]

Vesta, too, has a differentiated interior, though it formed inside the Solar
System's frost line, and so is devoid of water;[78][79] its composition is mainly
of basaltic rock with minerals such as olivine.[80] Aside from the large crater
at its southern pole, Rheasilvia, Vesta also has an ellipsoidal shape. Vesta
is the parent body of the Vestian family and other V-type asteroids, and is
the source of the HED meteorites, which constitute 5% of all meteorites on
Earth.

Pallas is unusual in that, like Uranus, it rotates on its side, with its axis of
rotation tilted at high angles to its orbital plane.[81] Its composition is similar
to that of Ceres: high in carbon and silicon, and perhaps partially
differentiated.[82] Pallas is the parent body of the Palladian family of
asteroids.

Hygiea is the largest carbonaceous asteroid[83] and, unlike the other largest
asteroids, lies relatively close to the plane of the ecliptic. It is the largest
member and presumed parent body of the Hygiean family of asteroids.
Because there is no sufficiently large crater on the surface to be the source
of that family, as there is on Vesta, it is thought that Hygiea may have been
completely disrupted in the collision that formed the Hygiean family and
recoalesced after losing a bit less than 2% of its mass. Observations taken
with the Very Large Telescope's SPHERE imager in 2017 and 2018,
revealed that Hygiea has a nearly spherical shape, which is consistent both
with it being in hydrostatic equilibrium, or formerly being in hydrostatic
equilibrium, or with being disrupted and recoalescing.[84][85]

Internal differentiation of large asteroids is possibly related to their lack

of natural satellites, as satellites of main belt asteroids are mostly believed
to form from collisional disruption, creating a rubble pile structure.[77]

Attributes of largest asteroids

Nam Orbi Orbi Inclina Orbital Diameter Diam Mass Mas Density Rotat
e tal tal tion eccentr eter (×1018 s (g/cm3) ion
 peri
radi (% (%
od to perio
us icity (km) of Mo of
(yea ecliptic kg) d
(AU) on) Cer
rs) (hr)
es)

964×964
Cer ×892 100 2.16±
2.77 4.60 10.6° 0.079 27% 938 9.07
es (mean % 0.01
939.4)
573×557
Vest ×446 28 3.46 ±
2.36 3.63 7.1° 0.089 15% 259 5.34
a (mean % 0.04
525.4)
550×516
Pall ×476 204± 21 2.92±
2.77 4.62 34.8° 0.231 15% 7.81
as (mean 3 % 0.08
511±4)
450×430
Hyg ×424 2.06±
3.14 5.56 3.8° 0.117 12% 87±7 9% 13.8
iea (mean 0.20
433±8)
Rotation
[edit]
Further information: List of fast rotators (minor planets) and List of slow
rotators (minor planets)
Measurements of the rotation rates of large asteroids in the asteroid belt
show that there is an upper limit. Very few asteroids with a diameter larger
than 100 meters have a rotation period less than 2.2 hours.[86] For asteroids
rotating faster than approximately this rate, the inertial force at the surface
is greater than the gravitational force, so any loose surface material would
be flung out. However, a solid object should be able to rotate much more
rapidly. This suggests that most asteroids with a diameter over 100 meters
are rubble piles formed through the accumulation of debris after collisions
between asteroids.[87]
Color
[edit]
Asteroids become darker and redder with age due to space weathering.
[88]
However evidence suggests most of the color change occurs rapidly, in
the first hundred thousand years, limiting the usefulness of spectral
measurement for determining the age of asteroids.[89]
Surface features
[edit]

Cratered terrain on 4 Vesta

Except for the "big four" (Ceres, Pallas, Vesta, and Hygiea), asteroids are
likely to be broadly similar in appearance, if irregular in shape. 50 km
(31 mi) 253 Mathilde is a rubble pile saturated with craters with diameters
the size of the asteroid's radius. Earth-based observations of 300 km
(190 mi) 511 Davida, one of the largest asteroids after the big four, reveal a
similarly angular profile, suggesting it is also saturated with radius-size
craters.[90] Medium-sized asteroids such as Mathilde and 243 Ida, that have
been observed up close, also reveal a deep regolith covering the surface.
Of the big four, Pallas and Hygiea are practically unknown. Vesta has
compression fractures encircling a radius-size crater at its south pole but is
otherwise a spheroid.

Dawn spacecraft revealed that Ceres has a heavily cratered surface, but
with fewer large craters than expected.[91] Models based on the formation of
the current asteroid belt had suggested Ceres should possess 10 to 15
craters larger than 400 km (250 mi) in diameter.[91] The largest confirmed
crater on Ceres, Kerwan Basin, is 284 km (176 mi) across.[92] The most
likely reason for this is viscous relaxation of the crust slowly flattening out
larger impacts.[91]
Composition
[edit]
Asteroids are classified by their characteristic emission spectra, with the
majority falling into three main groups: C-type, M-type, and S-type. These
describe carbonaceous (carbon-rich), metallic, and silicaceous (stony)
compositions, respectively. The physical composition of asteroids is varied
and in most cases poorly understood. Ceres appears to be composed of a
rocky core covered by an icy mantle; Vesta is thought to have a nickel-
iron core, olivine mantle, and basaltic crust.[93] Thought to be the largest
undifferentiated asteroid, 10 Hygiea seems to have a uniformly primitive
composition of carbonaceous chondrite, but it may actually be a
differentiated asteroid that was globally disrupted by an impact and then
reassembled. Other asteroids appear to be the remnant cores or mantles of
proto-planets, high in rock and metal. Most small asteroids are believed to
be piles of rubble held together loosely by gravity, although the largest are
probably solid. Some asteroids have moons or are co-orbiting binaries:
rubble piles, moons, binaries, and scattered asteroid families are thought to
be the results of collisions that disrupted a parent asteroid, or possibly
a planet.[94]

In the main asteroid belt, there appear to be two primary populations of

asteroid: a dark, volatile-rich population, consisting of the C-type and P-
type asteroids, with albedos less than 0.10 and densities under 2.2 g/cm3,
and a dense, volatile-poor population, consisting of the S-type and M-
type asteroids, with albedos over 0.15 and densities greater than 2.7.
Within these populations, larger asteroids are denser, presumably due to
compression. There appears to be minimal macro-porosity (interstitial
vacuum) in the score of asteroids with masses greater than 10×1018 kg.[95]

Composition is calculated from three primary sources: albedo, surface

spectrum, and density. The last can only be determined accurately by
observing the orbits of moons the asteroid might have. So far, every
asteroid with moons has turned out to be a rubble pile, a loose
conglomeration of rock and metal that may be half empty space by volume.
The investigated asteroids are as large as 280 km in diameter, and
include 121 Hermione (268×186×183 km), and 87
Sylvia (384×262×232 km). Few asteroids are larger than 87 Sylvia, none of
them have moons. The fact that such large asteroids as Sylvia may be
rubble piles, presumably due to disruptive impacts, has important
consequences for the formation of the Solar System: computer simulations
of collisions involving solid bodies show them destroying each other as
often as merging, but colliding rubble piles are more likely to merge. This
means that the cores of the planets could have formed relatively quickly.[96]
Water
[edit]
Main article: Asteroidal water
Scientists hypothesize that some of the first water brought to Earth was
delivered by asteroid impacts after the collision that produced the Moon.
[97]
In 2009, the presence of water ice was confirmed on the surface of 24
Themis using NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility. The surface of the
asteroid appears completely covered in ice. As this ice layer is sublimating,
it may be getting replenished by a reservoir of ice under the surface.
Organic compounds were also detected on the surface.[98][99][97][100] The
presence of ice on 24 Themis makes the initial theory plausible.[97]

In October 2013, water was detected on an extrasolar body for the first
time, on an asteroid orbiting the white dwarf GD 61.[101] On 22 January
2014, European Space Agency (ESA) scientists reported the detection, for
the first definitive time, of water vapor on Ceres, the largest object in the
asteroid belt.[102] The detection was made by using the far-infrared
abilities of the Herschel Space Observatory.[103] The finding is unexpected
because comets, not asteroids, are typically considered to "sprout jets and
plumes". According to one of the scientists, "The lines are becoming more
and more blurred between comets and asteroids."[103]

Findings have shown that solar winds can react with the oxygen in the
upper layer of the asteroids and create water. It has been estimated that
"every cubic metre of irradiated rock could contain up to 20 litres"; study
was conducted using an atom probe tomography, numbers are given for
the Itokawa S-type asteroid.[104][105]

Acfer 049, a meteorite discovered in Algeria in 1990, was shown in 2019 to

have an ultraporous lithology (UPL): porous texture that could be formed by
removal of ice that filled these pores, this suggests that UPL "represent
fossils of primordial ice".[106]
Organic compounds
[edit]
Asteroids contain traces of amino acids and other organic compounds, and
some speculate that asteroid impacts may have seeded the early Earth
with the chemicals necessary to initiate life, or may have even brought life
itself to Earth (an event called "panspermia").[107][108] In August 2011, a report,
based on NASA studies with meteorites found on Earth, was published
suggesting DNA and RNA components (adenine, guanine and
related organic molecules) may have been formed on asteroids
and comets in outer space.[109][110][111]

In November 2019, scientists reported detecting, for the first time, sugar
molecules, including ribose, in meteorites, suggesting that chemical
processes on asteroids can produce some fundamentally essential bio-
ingredients important to life, and supporting the notion of an RNA
world prior to a DNA-based origin of life on Earth, and possibly, as well, the
notion of panspermia.[112][113][114]

Classification
[edit]
Asteroids are commonly categorized according to two criteria: the
characteristics of their orbits, and features of their reflectance spectrum.
Orbital classification
[edit]
Main articles: Asteroid group and Asteroid family

A complex horseshoe orbit (the vertical looping

is due to inclination of the smaller body's orbit to that of the Earth, and
would be absent if both orbited in the same
plane) Sun · Earth · (419624) 2010 SO16
Many asteroids have been placed in groups and families based on their
orbital characteristics. Apart from the broadest divisions, it is customary to
name a group of asteroids after the first member of that group to be
discovered. Groups are relatively loose dynamical associations, whereas
families are tighter and result from the catastrophic break-up of a large
parent asteroid sometime in the past.[115] Families are more common and
easier to identify within the main asteroid belt, but several small families
have been reported among the Jupiter trojans.[116] Main belt families were
first recognized by Kiyotsugu Hirayama in 1918 and are often
called Hirayama families in his honor.
About 30–35% of the bodies in the asteroid belt belong to dynamical
families, each thought to have a common origin in a past collision between
asteroids. A family has also been associated with the plutoid dwarf
planet Haumea.

Some asteroids have unusual horseshoe orbits that are co-orbital

with Earth or another planet. Examples are 3753 Cruithne and 2002 AA29.
The first instance of this type of orbital arrangement was discovered
between Saturn's moons Epimetheus and Janus. Sometimes these
horseshoe objects temporarily become quasi-satellites for a few decades or
a few hundred years, before returning to their earlier status. Both Earth
and Venus are known to have quasi-satellites.

Such objects, if associated with Earth or Venus or even

hypothetically Mercury, are a special class of Aten asteroids. However,
such objects could be associated with the outer planets as well.
Spectral classification
[edit]
Main article: Asteroid spectral types
In 1975, an asteroid taxonomic system based on color, albedo,
and spectral shape was developed by Chapman, Morrison, and Zellner.
[117]
These properties are thought to correspond to the composition of the
asteroid's surface material. The original classification system had three
categories: C-types for dark carbonaceous objects (75% of known
asteroids), S-types for stony (silicaceous) objects (17% of known asteroids)
and U for those that did not fit into either C or S. This classification has
since been expanded to include many other asteroid types. The number of
types continues to grow as more asteroids are studied.

The two most widely used taxonomies now used are the Tholen
classification and SMASS classification. The former was proposed in 1984
by David J. Tholen, and was based on data collected from an eight-color
asteroid survey performed in the 1980s. This resulted in 14 asteroid
categories.[118] In 2002, the Small Main-Belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey
resulted in a modified version of the Tholen taxonomy with 24 different
types. Both systems have three broad categories of C, S, and X asteroids,
where X consists of mostly metallic asteroids, such as the M-type. There
are also several smaller classes.[119]
The proportion of known asteroids falling into the various spectral types
does not necessarily reflect the proportion of all asteroids that are of that
type; some types are easier to detect than others, biasing the totals.
Problems
[edit]
Originally, spectral designations were based on inferences of an asteroid's
composition.[120] However, the correspondence between spectral class and
composition is not always very good, and a variety of classifications are in
use. This has led to significant confusion. Although asteroids of different
spectral classifications are likely to be composed of different materials,
there are no assurances that asteroids within the same taxonomic class are
composed of the same (or similar) materials.
Active asteroids
[edit]
Main article: Active asteroid

Asteroid (101955) Bennu seen ejecting particles

by the OSIRIS-REx
Active asteroids are objects that have asteroid-like orbits but show comet-
like visual characteristics. That is, they show comae, tails, or other visual
evidence of mass-loss (like a comet), but their orbit remains within Jupiter's
orbit (like an asteroid).[121][122] These bodies were originally designated main-
belt comets (MBCs) in 2006 by astronomers David Jewitt and Henry
Hsieh, but this name implies they are necessarily icy in composition like a
comet and that they only exist within the main-belt, whereas the growing
population of active asteroids shows that this is not always the case.[121][123][124]

The first active asteroid discovered is 7968 Elst–Pizarro. It was discovered

(as an asteroid) in 1979 but then was found to have a tail by Eric Elst and
Guido Pizarro in 1996 and given the cometary designation 133P/Elst-
Pizarro.[121][125] Another notable object is 311P/PanSTARRS: observations
made by the Hubble Space Telescope revealed that it had six comet-like
tails.[126] The tails are suspected to be streams of material ejected by the
asteroid as a result of a rubble pile asteroid spinning fast enough to remove
material from it.[127]

Dimorphos and the tail created after the DART

impact, photo by the Hubble Space Telescope
By smashing into the asteroid Dimorphos, NASA's Double Asteroid
Redirection Test spacecraft made it an active asteroid. Scientists had
proposed that some active asteroids are the result of impact events, but no
one had ever observed the activation of an asteroid. The DART mission
activated Dimorphos under precisely known and carefully observed impact
conditions, enabling the detailed study of the formation of an active asteroid
for the first time.[128][129] Observations show that Dimorphos lost
approximately 1 million kilograms after the collision.[130] Impact produced a
dust plume that temporarily brightened the Didymos system and developed
a 10,000-kilometer (6,200 mi)-long dust tail that persisted for several
months.[131][132][133]

Observation and exploration

[edit]
Until the age of space travel, objects in the asteroid belt could only be
observed with large telescopes, their shapes and terrain remaining a
mystery. The best modern ground-based telescopes and the Earth-
orbiting Hubble Space Telescope can only resolve a small amount of detail
on the surfaces of the largest asteroids. Limited information about the
shapes and compositions of asteroids can be inferred from their light
curves (variation in brightness during rotation) and their spectral properties.
Sizes can be estimated by timing the lengths of star occultations (when an
asteroid passes directly in front of a star). Radar imaging can yield good
information about asteroid shapes and orbital and rotational parameters,
especially for near-Earth asteroids. Spacecraft flybys can provide much
more data than any ground or space-based observations; sample-return
missions gives insights about regolith composition.
Ground-based observations
[edit]

The 70m antenna at Goldstone Observatory

Radar observations of near-Earth

asteroid (505657) 2014 SR339 as seen by Arecibo
As asteroids are rather small and faint objects, the data that can be
obtained from ground-based observations (GBO) are limited. By means of
ground-based optical telescopes the visual magnitude can be obtained;
when converted into the absolute magnitude it gives a rough estimate of
the asteroid's size. Light-curve measurements can also be made by GBO;
when collected over a long period of time it allows an estimate of the
rotational period, the pole orientation (sometimes), and a rough estimate of
the asteroid's shape. Spectral data (both visible-light and near-infrared
spectroscopy) gives information about the object's composition, used to
classify the observed asteroids. Such observations are limited as they
provide information about only the thin layer on the surface (up to several
micrometers).[134] As planetologist Patrick Michel writes:

Mid- to thermal-infrared observations, along with polarimetry

measurements, are probably the only data that give some indication of
actual physical properties. Measuring the heat flux of an asteroid at a single
wavelength gives an estimate of the dimensions of the object; these
measurements have lower uncertainty than measurements of the reflected
sunlight in the visible-light spectral region. If the two measurements can be
combined, both the effective diameter and the geometric albedo—the latter
being a measure of the brightness at zero phase angle, that is, when
illumination comes from directly behind the observer—can be derived. In
addition, thermal measurements at two or more wavelengths, plus the
brightness in the visible-light region, give information on the thermal
properties. The thermal inertia, which is a measure of how fast a material
heats up or cools off, of most observed asteroids is lower than the bare-
rock reference value but greater than that of the lunar regolith; this
observation indicates the presence of an insulating layer of granular
material on their surface. Moreover, there seems to be a trend, perhaps
related to the gravitational environment, that smaller objects (with lower
gravity) have a small regolith layer consisting of coarse grains, while larger
objects have a thicker regolith layer consisting of fine grains. However, the
detailed properties of this regolith layer are poorly known from remote
observations. Moreover, the relation between thermal inertia and surface
roughness is not straightforward, so one needs to interpret the thermal
inertia with caution.[134][excessive quote]
Near-Earth asteroids that come into close vicinity of the planet can be
studied in more details with radar; it provides information about the surface
of the asteroid (for example can show the presence of craters and
boulders). Such observations were conducted by the Arecibo
Observatory in Puerto Rico (305 meter dish) and Goldstone Observatory in
California (70 meter dish). Radar observations can also be used for
accurate determination of the orbital and rotational dynamics of observed
objects.[134]
Space-based observations
[edit]
 WISE infrared space telescope

Asteroid 6481 Tenzing, center, is seen moving

against a background of stars in this series of images taken by the James
Webb Space Telescope's instrument NIRCam.
Both space and ground-based observatories conducted asteroid search
programs; the space-based searches are expected to detect more objects
because there is no atmosphere to interfere and because they can observe
larger portions of the sky. NEOWISE observed more than 100,000
asteroids of the main belt, Spitzer Space Telescope observed more than
700 near-Earth asteroids. These observations determined rough sizes of
the majority of observed objects, but provided limited detail about surface
properties (such as regolith depth and composition, angle of repose,
cohesion, and porosity).[134]

Asteroids were also studied by the Hubble Space Telescope, such as

tracking the colliding asteroids in the main belt,[135][136] break-up of an
asteroid,[137] observing an active asteroid with six comet-like tails,[138] and
observing asteroids that were chosen as targets of dedicated missions.[139]
[140]

Space probe missions

[edit]
See also: List of minor planets and comets visited by spacecraft and List of
missions to minor planets
According to Patrick Michel

The internal structure of asteroids is inferred only from indirect evidence:

bulk densities measured by spacecraft, the orbits of natural satellites in the
case of asteroid binaries, and the drift of an asteroid's orbit due to the
Yarkovsky thermal effect. A spacecraft near an asteroid is perturbed
enough by the asteroid's gravity to allow an estimate of the asteroid's
mass. The volume is then estimated using a model of the asteroid's shape.
Mass and volume allow the derivation of the bulk density, whose
uncertainty is usually dominated by the errors made on the volume
estimate. The internal porosity of asteroids can be inferred by comparing
their bulk density with that of their assumed meteorite analogues, dark
asteroids seem to be more porous (>40%) than bright ones. The nature of
this porosity is unclear.[134]
Dedicated missions
[edit]
The first asteroid to be photographed in close-up was 951 Gaspra in 1991,
followed in 1993 by 243 Ida and its moon Dactyl, all of which were imaged
by the Galileo probe en route to Jupiter. Other asteroids briefly visited by
spacecraft en route to other destinations include 9969 Braille (by Deep
Space 1 in 1999), 5535 Annefrank (by Stardust in 2002), 2867
Šteins and 21 Lutetia (by the Rosetta probe in 2008), and 4179
Toutatis (China's lunar orbiter Chang'e 2, which flew within 3.2 km (2 mi) in
2012).

The first dedicated asteroid probe was NASA's NEAR Shoemaker, which
photographed 253 Mathilde in 1997, before entering into orbit around 433
Eros, finally landing on its surface in 2001. It was the first spacecraft to
successfully orbit and land on an asteroid.[141] From September to
November 2005, the Japanese Hayabusa probe studied 25143 Itokawa in
detail and returned samples of its surface to Earth on 13 June 2010, the
first asteroid sample-return mission. In 2007, NASA launched
the Dawn spacecraft, which orbited 4 Vesta for a year, and observed the
dwarf planet Ceres for three years.

Hayabusa2, a probe launched by JAXA 2014, orbited its target

asteroid 162173 Ryugu for more than a year and took samples that were
delivered to Earth in 2020. The spacecraft is now on an extended mission
and expected to arrive at a new target in 2031.

NASA launched the OSIRIS-REx in 2016, a sample return mission to

asteroid 101955 Bennu. In 2021, the probe departed the asteroid with a
sample from its surface. Sample was delivered to Earth in September
2023. The spacecraft continues its extended mission, designated OSIRIS-
APEX, to explore near-Earth asteroid Apophis in 2029.

In 2021, NASA launched Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a

mission to test technology for defending Earth against potential hazardous
objects. DART deliberately crashed into the minor-planet
moon Dimorphos of the double asteroid Didymos in September 2022 to
assess the potential of a spacecraft impact to deflect an asteroid from a
collision course with Earth.[142] In October, NASA declared DART a success,
confirming it had shortened Dimorphos' orbital period around Didymos by
about 32 minutes.[143]

 Asteroid-dedicated space probes



Hayabusa2


 Dawn

Lucy

Psyche
Planned missions
[edit]

Asteroids and comets visited by

spacecraft as of 2019 (except Ceres and Vesta), to scale
 NASA's Lucy, launched in 2021, would visit eight asteroids, one from
the main belt and seven Jupiter trojans; it is the first mission to trojans.
The main mission would start in 2027.[144][145]
 NASA's Psyche, launched in October 2023, is intended to study the
large metallic asteroid of the same name, and is on track to arrive there
in 2029.
 ESA's Hera, planned for launch in 2024, is intended study the results of
the DART impact. It is expected to measure the size and morphology of
the crater, and momentum transmitted by the impact, to determine the
efficiency of the deflection produced by DART.
 JAXA's DESTINY+ is a mission for a flyby of the Geminids meteor
shower parent body 3200 Phaethon, as well as various minor bodies. Its
launch is planned for 2024.[146]
 CNSA's Tianwen-2 is planned to launch in 2025.[147] If all goes as
planned, it will use solar electric propulsion to explore the co-
orbital near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and the active
asteroid 311P/PanSTARRS. The spacecraft is tasked with collecting
samples of the regolith of Kamo'oalewa.[148]
Asteroid mining
[edit]
Main articles: Asteroid mining and Colonization of the asteroids

Artist's concept of a crewed mission to an

asteroid
The concept of asteroid mining was proposed in 1970s. Matt Anderson
defines successful asteroid mining as "the development of a mining
program that is both financially self-sustaining and profitable to its
investors".[149] It has been suggested that asteroids might be used as a
source of materials that may be rare or exhausted on Earth,[150] or materials
for constructing space habitats. Materials that are heavy and expensive to
launch from Earth may someday be mined from asteroids and used
for space manufacturing and construction.[151][152]
As resource depletion on Earth becomes more real, the idea of extracting
valuable elements from asteroids and returning these to Earth for profit, or
using space-based resources to build solar-power satellites and space
habitats,[153][154] becomes more attractive. Hypothetically, water processed
from ice could refuel orbiting propellant depots.[155][156]

From the astrobiological perspective, asteroid prospecting could provide

scientific data for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Some
astrophysicists have suggested that if advanced extraterrestrial civilizations
employed asteroid mining long ago, the hallmarks of these activities might
be detectable.[157][158][159]

Threats to Earth
[edit]
See also: List of Earth-crossing minor planets

Frequency of bolides, small asteroids roughly 1

to 20 meters in diameter impacting Earth's atmosphere
There is increasing interest in identifying asteroids whose orbits
cross Earth's, and that could, given enough time, collide with Earth. The
three most important groups of near-Earth asteroids are
the Apollos, Amors, and Atens.

The near-Earth asteroid 433 Eros had been discovered as long ago as
1898, and the 1930s brought a flurry of similar objects. In order of
discovery, these were: 1221 Amor, 1862 Apollo, 2101 Adonis, and
finally 69230 Hermes, which approached within 0.005 AU of Earth in 1937.
Astronomers began to realize the possibilities of Earth impact.

Two events in later decades increased the alarm: the increasing

acceptance of the Alvarez hypothesis that an impact event resulted in
the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction, and the 1994 observation of Comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashing into Jupiter. The U.S. military also declassified
the information that its military satellites, built to detect nuclear explosions,
had detected hundreds of upper-atmosphere impacts by objects ranging
from one to ten meters across.

All of these considerations helped spur the launch of highly efficient

surveys, consisting of charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras and
computers directly connected to telescopes. As of 2011, it was estimated
that 89% to 96% of near-Earth asteroids one kilometer or larger in diameter
had been discovered.[51] As of 29 October 2018, the LINEAR system alone
had discovered 147,132 asteroids.[160] Among the surveys, 19,266 near-
Earth asteroids have been discovered[161] including almost 900 more than
1 km (0.6 mi) in diameter.[162]

In June 2018, the National Science and Technology Council warned that
the United States is unprepared for an asteroid impact event, and has
developed and released the "National Near-Earth Object Preparedness
Strategy Action Plan" to better prepare.[163][164][165] According to expert
testimony in the United States Congress in 2013, NASA would require at
least five years of preparation before a mission to intercept an asteroid
could be launched.[166]
Asteroid deflection strategies
[edit]
Main articles: Asteroid deflection strategies and Asteroid impact avoidance

Double Asteroid Redirection Test in 2022

demonstrated that spacecraft impact is a viable option for planetary
defense.
Various collision avoidance techniques have different trade-offs with
respect to metrics such as overall performance, cost, failure risks,
operations, and technology readiness.[167] There are various methods for
changing the course of an asteroid/comet.[168] These can be differentiated by
various types of attributes such as the type of mitigation (deflection or
fragmentation), energy source (kinetic, electromagnetic, gravitational,
solar/thermal, or nuclear), and approach strategy (interception,[169]
[170]
rendezvous, or remote station).
Strategies fall into two basic sets: fragmentation and delay.[168]
[171]
Fragmentation concentrates on rendering the impactor harmless by
fragmenting it and scattering the fragments so that they miss the Earth or
are small enough to burn up in the atmosphere. Delay exploits the fact that
both the Earth and the impactor are in orbit. An impact occurs when both
reach the same point in space at the same time, or more correctly when
some point on Earth's surface intersects the impactor's orbit when the
impactor arrives. Since the Earth is approximately 12,750 km in diameter
and moves at approx. 30 km per second in its orbit, it travels a distance of
one planetary diameter in about 425 seconds, or slightly over seven
minutes. Delaying, or advancing the impactor's arrival by times of this
magnitude can, depending on the exact geometry of the impact, cause it to
miss the Earth.[172]

"Project Icarus" was one of the first projects designed in 1967 as a

contingency plan in case of collision with 1566 Icarus. The plan relied on
the new Saturn V rocket, which did not make its first flight until after the
report had been completed. Six Saturn V rockets would be used, each
launched at variable intervals from months to hours away from impact.
Each rocket was to be fitted with a single 100-megaton nuclear warhead as
well as a modified Apollo Service Module and uncrewed Apollo Command
Module for guidance to the target. The warheads would be detonated 30
meters from the surface, deflecting or partially destroying the asteroid.
Depending on the subsequent impacts on the course or the destruction of
the asteroid, later missions would be modified or cancelled as needed. The
"last-ditch" launch of the sixth rocket would be 18 hours prior to impact.[173]

Fiction
[edit]
Main article: Asteroids in fiction
Asteroids and the asteroid belt are a staple of science fiction stories.
Asteroids play several potential roles in science fiction: as places human
beings might colonize, resources for extracting minerals, hazards
encountered by spacecraft traveling between two other points, and as a
threat to life on Earth or other inhabited planets, dwarf planets, and natural
satellites by potential impact.