Asteroids: All you need to know about these planetoids that orbit around the sun

Like planets, satellites and myriad other celestial bodies, asteroids are also a part of the grand scheme of things. But what exactly are asteroids?

According to NASA's official statement, asteroids are small rocks or rocky formations, which are not eligible to be called a planet, and orbit around the sun. They are also known as planetoids (small or minor planets). The meteorites which land on Earth or burn up in meteor showers are originally thought to be remains of the asteroids. The undamaged parts which land on Earth are called meteorites. The solar system has thousands of asteroids, ranging from the size of a grain of sand to the larger ones such as Ceres, which has a diameter of 940km and is massive enough that it has been rounded by its own gravity! However, while they are everywhere in the solar system, their total mass is less than the Moon, the only satellite of the Earth.

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Falling asteroids, which are also called meteoroids, are thought to have caused widespread destruction on Earth as they've fallen from the skies in the past, considered responsible for the extinction of entire species and ecosystems such as the dinosaurs. As per an article published on space.com, NASA scientists are researching and studying asteroids in detail to find ways to evade such big-scale casualties in the future.

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How are the asteroids formed?

Asteroids are thought to have been formed via the very same processes that led to the formation of the planets of the solar system nearly 4.6 billion years ago. As there are multiple hefty gravitational forces to contend with, starting from the Sun and then downwards from Jupiter, they have found their place. There exists a large asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. 

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As per an article on Space.com, modern theories like the Grand Tack and the Nice Mode show that planets like Jupiter have moved multiple times before settling to their present track. This change of movements may have resulted in asteroids colliding with the terrestrial planets like Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, and these incidents in turn emptied and refilled the asteroid belt.

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Interesting asteroids facts

The asteroids are really interesting. Here are some asteroid facts that you need to check-

• They exist in different shapes and sizes. The smallest asteroid studied till now is the 2015 TC25 which is space rock with a 2-meter diameter. The largest is Ceres, which is nearly 940 kilometers in diameter. Vishnu Reddy from Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona said in a statement that the 2015 TC25 has a very thin chance of collision with the earth. According to him, asteroids can be classified as meteoroids that are yet to fall on the earth.
• The shapes of the asteroids are closely related to their shapes. The smaller ones are often uneven in shape while the larger ones like Ceres are almost spherical. Some asteroids also have craters on their surface, For example, according to Space.com journal, the Vesta has a 460 km wide crater. In general, these asteroids have a surface covered with dust.
• The asteroids have an elliptical path and often tumble because of the different gravitational forces they experience.
• Nearly 150 asteroids have their own moon which is smaller in size.
• Binary asteroids that revolve around each other are also there. For example, Phobos and Deimos, the twin moons of the mars.

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