Asteroid | Wikipedia audio article
Channel: wikipedia tts
Date: 2018-12-08

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Asteroid


00:03:41 1 Discovery
00:05:30 1.1 Historical methods
00:08:35 1.2 Manual methods of the 1900s and modern reporting
00:10:15 1.3 Computerized methods
00:12:55 2 Terminology
00:13:55 3 Formation
00:18:52 4 Distribution within the Solar System
00:19:58 4.1 Asteroid belt
00:20:23 4.2 Trojans
00:21:08 4.3 Near-Earth asteroids
00:21:50 5 Characteristics
00:22:21 5.1 Size distribution
00:22:30 5.1.1 Largest asteroids
00:24:38 5.2 Rotation
00:26:38 5.3 Composition
00:27:24 5.4 Surface features
00:31:40 5.5 Color
00:32:56 6 Classification
00:33:20 6.1 Orbital classification
00:33:38 6.1.1 Quasi-satellites and horseshoe objects
00:34:42 6.2 Spectral classification
00:35:37 6.2.1 Problems
00:37:20 7 Naming
00:37:57 7.1 Symbols
00:38:51 8 Exploration
00:40:33 8.1 Planned and future missions
00:44:26 9 Fiction
00:45:44 10 Gallery
00:46:16 11 See also
00:46:25 12 Notes



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- Socrates



SUMMARY
=======
Asteroids are minor planets, especially of the inner Solar System. Larger asteroids have also been called planetoids. These terms have historically been applied to any astronomical object orbiting the Sun that did not resemble a planet-like disc and was not observed to have characteristics of an active comet such as a tail. As minor planets in the outer Solar System were discovered they were typically found to have volatile-rich surfaces similar to comets. As a result, they were often distinguished from objects found in the main asteroid belt. In this article, the term "asteroid" refers to the minor planets of the inner Solar System including those co-orbital with Jupiter.
There exist millions of asteroids, many thought to be the shattered remnants of planetesimals, bodies within the young Sun's solar nebula that never grew large enough to become planets. The vast majority of known asteroids orbit within the main asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, or are co-orbital with Jupiter (the Jupiter trojans). However, other orbital families exist with significant populations, including the near-Earth objects. Individual asteroids are classified by their characteristic spectra, with the majority falling into three main groups: C-type, M-type, and S-type. These were named after and are generally identified with carbon-rich, metallic, and silicate (stony) compositions, respectively. The sizes of asteroids varies greatly; the largest, Ceres, is almost 1,000 km (625 mi) across.
Asteroids are differentiated from comets and meteoroids. In the case of comets, the difference is one of composition: while asteroids are mainly composed of mineral and rock, comets are primarily composed of dust and ice. Furthermore, asteroids formed closer to the sun, preventing the development of cometary ice. The difference between asteroids and meteoroids is mainly one of size: meteoroids have a diameter of less than one meter, whereas asteroids have a diameter of greater than one meter. Finally, meteoroids can be composed of either cometary or asteroidal materials.Only one asteroid, 4 Vesta, which has a relatively reflective surface, is normally visible to the naked eye, and this only in very dark skies when it is favorably positioned. Rarely, small asteroids passing close to Earth may be visible to the naked eye for a short time. As of  October 2017, the Minor Planet Center had data on almost 745,000 objects in the inner and outer Solar System, of which almost 504,000 had enough information to be given numbered designations.The United Nations declared 30 June as International Asteroid Day to educate the public about asteroids. The date of International Asteroid Day commemorates the anniversary of the Tunguska asteroid impact over Siberia, Russian Federation, on 30 June 1908.In April 2018, the B612 Foundation reported "It's 100 percent certain we'll be hit [by a devastating asteroid], but we're not 100 percent sure when." Also in 2018, physicist Stephen Hawking,
in his final book Brief Answers to the Big Questions, consi ...