The largest asteroid by mass. The largest asteroid. Danger of collision with Earth
The science
Our quest for knowledge about the universe is still in its infancy, and we are constantly surprised by any new discoveries.
There are still many mysteries that we have to solve, even in our small corner of the Universe called the Solar System.
Here are some interesting facts about the highest mountain, the largest asteroid, the largest object and other countries mysteries of our solar system.
1. The highest mountain
Mount Olympus- a famous Martian mountain that makes Everest seem like a small hill in comparison. At height 21,900 meters, this volcanic mountain has long been considered the highest in the entire solar system.
Mount Olympus on Mars
However, a recently discovered peak located on Vesta, one of the largest asteroids in the solar system, has dethroned Olympus from first place. The height of the peak, named Reyasilvia, is 22 km m, which is 100 meters higher than Olympus.
Since these measurements are not completely accurate, and the difference between these peaks is not that large, it cannot be said with certainty that one is higher than the other.
Rheasilvia on the Vesta asteroid
When the Dawn spacecraft studied Vesta in 2011, it found that Rheasilvia was the central mountain in a giant crater with a diameter of 505 km, which was almost the same length as the entire asteroid.
2. The largest asteroid
Pallas considered the largest asteroid in the solar system, but under certain circumstances.
Comparison of large asteroids
To begin with, it is worth noting Ceres - the first asteroid discovered, and by far the largest. It contains almost a third of the total mass of the asteroid belt. That is, technically Ceres can be considered the largest asteroid, but its transferred to dwarf planet status.
Besides asteroid Vesta actually heavier than Pallas, but the latter is larger in volume.
Perhaps Pallas will not hold the title of the largest asteroid for long, since according to the latest Hubble images it is dynamic protoplanet.
In other words, it is not just a giant ball of stone and ice, but it undergoes internal changes with a change in dark and light areas. It may become a dwarf planet candidate in the near future.
3. Largest impact crater
There are currently three candidates vying for the title of largest impact crater, and they are all on Mars.
Hellas Plain on Mars
The first and smallest of the three candidates is Hellas plain, whose diameter is 2300 km. However, this is the only one that we know was formed by an impact.
The second largest crater is much larger than the previous one and is called Utopia plain. However, most likely, both of them look tiny compared to the largest crater in our solar system.
Northern Great Plain on Mars (center)
Diameter Great Northern Plain amounts to 8500 km, and it is almost three times the size of Utopia Plain.
However, it has yet to be confirmed that it is an impact crater. If so, it must have been the result of a very large impact, and its formation will help us understand better about the formation of Mars as a planet.
4. The most volcanically active body
Volcanic activity is not as common in the solar system as one might think. Although many cosmic bodies such as Mars and the Moon show signs of volcanic activity, there are still four other bodies that also exhibit it.
Volcanic activity on Jupiter's moon Io.
In addition to Earth, there are three volcanic satellites in the solar system: Triton(satellite of Neptune), And about(a moon of Jupiter), and Enceladus(satellite of Saturn).
Of all of them Io is the most active. Satellite images showed about 150 volcanoes, and astronomers believe the total number is around 400. What's surprising is that there is any volcanic activity here at all, given its icy surface and distance from the Sun.
According to one of the theories that explains how hot interior is preserved in such a cold place, Io's volcanic activity occurs due to internal friction .
Volcano on Io
The satellite is constantly internally deformed due to the external thrust of Jupiter and the two large satellites of Ganymede and Europa. The counteraction creates internal tides, which cause friction and generate heat to keep volcanoes active.
5. The largest object in the solar system
Sun, which represents 99 percent of the solar system's mass, is its largest object. However, in 2007, for a short period, the comet became larger than the Sun.
More precisely, we are talking about a comet's coma - a cloudy area that surrounds the comet and consists of ice and dust. Comet 17P/Holmes was discovered in 1892 and was named after the astronomer who discovered it, Edwin Holmes.
Comparison of Comet 17P/Holmes and the Sun
Scientists have been trying to track her ever since, despite losing her for almost 60 years between 1906 and 1964.
Although it is unusual for a comet to experience bursts of brightness, on October 23, 2007, Comet Holmes suddenly increased its brightness to nearly half a million.
It was strongest comet flare, which was visible to the naked eye.
Over the next month, the comet continued to expand until it reached diameter 1.4 million kilometers, officially becoming larger than the Sun.
We still don’t know why this outbreak occurred, and in the future, it may surprise astronomers more than once.
6. Longest riverbed
In 1989, the Magellan spacecraft was launched to Venus, which carried out the largest mapping of its surface. Also in 1991, he discovered the longest known channel in our solar system.
It was named Baltis Valley, whose length was 6800 km. Subsequently, many similar channels were discovered on the surface of Venus, but none could compare with the Baltis Valley.
But what surprises astronomers most is how these channels could have appeared, since Venus is known for its harsh conditions.
Superficial the pressure there is 90 times greater than on Earth, and the temperature can reach 462 degrees Celsius.
According to some assumptions, these channels appeared due to molten lava after volcanic eruptions. These lava beds are unlike anything we have on Earth, although our planet may have had similar characteristics billions of years ago.
7. The largest lava lake
As mentioned earlier, Jupiter's moon Io is one of the few bodies in the solar system that is still volcanically active, and quite strongly. All the molten lava has to go somewhere, and this often results in the formation of lava lakes.
Patera Loki on Jupiter's moon Io
One of them Patera Loki is the largest lava lake in the entire solar system.
Although something similar has been observed on Earth, none of these lakes are active. The biggest - Nyiragongo volcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo it reaches about 700 meters in diameter.
Volcano Nyiragongo on Earth
However, there is evidence indicating that Masaya volcano in Nicaragua in the past formed an even larger lava lake, reaching 1 km in diameter.
Masaya Volcano on Earth
All this allows us to look from the outside at Patera Loki, whose diameter was 200 km. Given that its total surface area is not directly proportional, as the lake has an unusual U-shape, it is very large.
The lake is almost twice as big Paters Gish Bar- the second largest lava lake on Io with a diameter of 106 km.
8. The oldest asteroids
Despite all the research that has been done, we still cannot say with 100% certainty how asteroids are formed.
There are currently two main theories: they formed the same way as the planets(pieces of material collide with other pieces and become larger and larger), or they could be ancient planets between Mars and Jupiter, whose destruction led to the creation of the asteroid belt.
Our understanding of asteroid formation advanced in 2008 when researchers at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii discovered the oldest known asteroids in our solar system.
Asteroids whose age was 4.55 billion years, were older than any meteorites that fell to Earth, and close to the age of the Solar System itself.
Their age was determined by analyzing their composition, and they found that all three asteroids contain large amounts of aluminum and calcium, more than any other space rock ever found.
9. The longest tail of a comet
Comet Hyakutake or Great Comet of 1996 known for having the longest tail in history.
Hyakutake or Great Comet of 1996
When Hyakutake flew by in 1996, it was closest to any comet on its approach to Earth. The comet became very bright and was visible to the naked eye.
One of the planned areas of space research at NASA is the study of asteroids. What are they planning to look for on these bare cosmic blocks, what secrets do these silent pieces of stone conceal?
Currently, scientists have studied the largest asteroids and their movement quite well. It is impossible to briefly talk about these bodies of the Solar System (more than seven hundred thousand of them have been discovered so far). Where did they come from and what are asteroids?
Planet number four and a half
Already in the eighteenth century, astronomers were relatively well aware of the scale and extent of the solar system. Researchers Titius and Bose noticed that the line of distances of planets from the sun fits into the correct mathematical sequence. There was only one place where the theory failed. The first four planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars corresponded completely to the mathematical model, and then...
Jupiter, the fifth planet, occupied the sixth place. There was another celestial body missing between Mars and Jupiter.
The planets in the solar system, not counting our star, are the largest bodies. Asteroids and their movement were discovered and systematized later. And at that moment, this failure in the sequence became a real challenge for astronomers.
The hunt for planet No. 4 ½ was not without drama and was crowned with success in 1801. The Italian scientist Piazzi congratulated earthlings on the New Year, 1801, by discovering on January 1 the first small planet, later named Ceres in honor of the ancient Greek goddess of fertility.
A failed planet or a catastrophe on a universal scale
Almost immediately after, the second asteroid Pallas was discovered. Then two more: Juno and Vesta. The region of the system in which the largest asteroids are located was gradually determined. Their movement suggested that they were all part of something big.
This is how the theory arose about the existence of the ancient planet Phaeton, rotating in an orbit located between the planets Mars and Jupiter, and destroyed as a result of some kind of cosmic cataclysm.
Ufologists also didn’t miss the chance, where would we be without them? In their opinion, the inhabitants of Phaeton visited our planet, appearing to the aborigines in the form of gods. They taught our prehistoric ancestors writing, mathematics and other sciences, and, naturally, built the ancient Egyptian pyramids.
And then Phaeton fell victim to the Phaetonians themselves, who were playing with some of their superweapons.
However, later studies, including those carried out by NASA's automatic interplanetary probes, showed that the beautiful theory, alas, is untenable.
According to modern ideas, the remnants of the protoplanetary disk matter rotate between Mars and Jupiter, which was not enough to form a full-fledged planet. And the powerful gravitational field of the giant Jupiter would not have allowed the formation of a more or less large celestial body.
Plus two small minus one big
The first asteroid discovered, Ceres, has always stood out among the rest. As it turned out later, a third of the mass of the entire asteroid belt is concentrated in it. With a diameter of about 1000 km, it is the only “inhabitant” of the belt and has a mass sufficient for hydrostatic equilibrium (formation of a spherical shape).
There is also geology due to the immersion of heavier components, and only the largest of cosmic bodies can boast of this.
Asteroids and their motion came under close study with the advent of giant reflecting telescopes; they began to be discovered at the rate of several thousand per year. And the faster their base grew, the more obvious their uniqueness in the Ceres asteroid belt became.
In 2006, an event occurred that increased the status of this planetoid. A year earlier, several trans-Neptunian objects were discovered, comparable in size to Pluto, which until then was considered the ninth planet of the solar system.
So, it was decided to deprive Pluto of the “title” of a planet. From now on, all such bodies began to be called “dwarf planets.” Ceres also fits this definition. Thus, there are two more dwarf planets in the solar family due to one full-fledged and one asteroid.
Asteroid orbits
The most “busy” movement of asteroids is concentrated, as already indicated, between Mars and Jupiter. However, the shape of the orbits of most of them differs markedly from the orbits of planets moving in almost perfect circles. So, if the second largest asteroid in the solar system, Vesta, has an orbital eccentricity of 0.089 and is constantly in the belt, then Eros, for example, moves differently.
At the highest point of the orbit, it is, as it should be, in the asteroid belt, and then, crossing the orbit of Mars, Eros rushes towards the Earth, not reaching its orbit by “some” 20 million kilometers.
The asteroid with the most elongated trajectory is considered to be 2005HC4. At the farthest point it “flies” far beyond the orbit of Mars, but at perihelion it approaches the Sun 7(!) times closer than Mercury.
Danger to Earth
There are many such cosmic “pebbles” of different sizes that cross the Earth’s orbit and, therefore, are theoretically capable of crashing into us. This is one of the reasons forcing scientists from all countries to study in detail the movement of asteroids.
Basic information about the orbits of the largest of them was obtained many decades ago. Fortunately, among them there are no candidates for a collision with our planet in the next few million years.
This, alas, cannot be said about smaller cosmic bodies measuring hundreds of meters or less. Despite the fact that the number of discovered asteroids is approaching a million, astronomers are constantly discovering more. In addition, the asteroid belt is a rather “overpopulated area” of the solar system. Their collisions with each other can easily dramatically change the orbit of a relatively small rock, like a slingshot, directing it towards one of the planets.
Treasure Planet
However, it appears that brief data on the movement of asteroids may eventually begin to appear in economic news. Recently, interest in their study is due to plans (though still very distant) for their development in the future as mineral deposits.
It is roughly estimated that the depths of Eros contain several times more rare earth metals than human civilization has mined and used throughout its history.
However, for the hypothetical development of gold and platinum deposits on the surface of a cosmic body, it is desirable that there be at least a small force of gravity there. Only the largest asteroids have this quality. And their motion and stable, almost circular orbit make, for example, Ceres and Vesta, prime candidates for exploration. It is possible that in a couple of hundred years young couples will fly to Eros on their honeymoon, and it’s not for nothing that they came up with such a name for it...
Asteroids are celestial bodies that were formed by the mutual attraction of dense gas and dust orbiting our Sun early in its formation. Some of these objects, like an asteroid, have reached enough mass to form a molten core. At the moment Jupiter reached its mass, most of the planetesimals (future protoplanets) were split and ejected from the original asteroid belt between Mars and. During this era, some asteroids were formed due to the collision of massive bodies within the influence of Jupiter's gravitational field.
Classification by orbits
Asteroids are classified based on features such as visible reflections of sunlight and orbital characteristics.
According to the characteristics of their orbits, asteroids are grouped into groups, among which families can be distinguished. A group of asteroids is considered to be a number of such bodies whose orbital characteristics are similar, that is: semi-axis, eccentricity and orbital inclination. An asteroid family should be considered a group of asteroids that not only move in close orbits, but are probably fragments of one large body, and were formed as a result of its split.
The largest of the known families can number several hundred asteroids, while the most compact - within ten. Approximately 34% of asteroid bodies are members of asteroid families.
As a result of the formation of most groups of asteroids in the Solar System, their parent body was destroyed, but there are also groups whose parent body survived (for example).
Classification by spectrum
Spectral classification is based on the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, which is the result of the asteroid reflecting sunlight. Registration and processing of this spectrum makes it possible to study the composition of the celestial body and identify the asteroid in one of the following classes:
- A group of carbon asteroids or C-group. Representatives of this group consist mostly of carbon, as well as elements that were part of the protoplanetary disk of our Solar System in the early stages of its formation. Hydrogen and helium, as well as other volatile elements, are virtually absent from carbon asteroids, but various minerals may be present. Another distinctive feature of such bodies is their low albedo - reflectivity, which requires the use of more powerful observation tools than when studying asteroids of other groups. More than 75% of asteroids in the Solar System are representatives of the C-group. The most famous bodies of this group are Hygeia, Pallas, and once - Ceres.
- A group of silicon asteroids or S-group. These types of asteroids are composed primarily of iron, magnesium and some other rocky minerals. For this reason, silicon asteroids are also called rocky asteroids. Such bodies have a fairly high albedo, which makes it possible to observe some of them (for example, Iris) simply with the help of binoculars. The number of silicon asteroids in the Solar System is 17% of the total, and they are most common at a distance of up to 3 astronomical units from the Sun. The largest representatives of the S-group: Juno, Amphitrite and Herculina.
> The largest asteroids
Explore largest asteroids in the ranking of the Solar System: first place for Ceres, description and characteristics of objects, discovery, distance, orbit, mass.
List of largest asteroids
Giuseppe Piazzi discovered it in 1801, but at first it was considered the eighth planet. Neither were discovered then. This is the first asteroid found. Ceres still remains the largest asteroid today with its polar diameter of 909 km. This is the only asteroid considered a dwarf planet, albeit a very, very small one. Its shape suggests that its developed topography is similar to that of the earth. Ceres may have large reserves of water ice beneath its crust because its density is quite low.
It is possible that Ceres may have more water than all the fresh water on Earth. Ceres contains almost a third of the mass of the entire Asteroid Belt. Planetary astronomers generally believe that Ceres evolved as it did in the early days of the solar system, but stopped merging with other protoplanets as Earth did. Its orbit around is approximately 2.5468 astronomical units. It will take 4.6 years for it to complete a revolution around the Sun.
Discovered after Ceres in 1807. It is the second largest and second heaviest asteroid. Its body has an elongated shape: 580 km by 460 km. The mass makes up about 9% of the total mass of the main Belt asteroids. Vesta has suffered catastrophic impacts in recent billions of years. They left a crater at its south pole, which is approximately 460 km across. About 1% of its total mass in space was ejected. The remaining fragments, of which there are about 235 in total, together with Vesta itself form the Vesta asteroid group. Some fragments are considered to be the source of meteorites. Many of them found their way to Earth. Its eccentric orbit is between 2.151 and 2.572 astronomical units from the Sun. It will take 3.63 years to complete a revolution around the Sun.
It was discovered in 1802. Its diameter, which varies from 580 to 500 km (average 544 km), makes it comparable in size to Vesta, but Pallas is significantly lighter - about 7% of the total mass of the asteroids. Its eccentric orbit around the Sun ranges from 2.132 to 3.412 astronomical units. The object is significantly deviated from the main plane by almost 35°.
10 Hygeia
Discovered in 1849. It is the fourth largest among the asteroids, its body also has an elongated shape: 530 x 407 x 370 km (average 431 km). The orbit is located at a distance of 2.77 to 3.507 astronomical units. Hygeia completes a revolution around the Sun every 5.56 years. It is the largest asteroid in the Hygeia family, as it makes up 90% of the entire family mass.
704 Interamnia
Interamnia measures approximately 350.3 by 303.6 km with an average diameter of 326 km. It makes up approximately 1.2% of the total mass of asteroids in the main Belt. Its orbit is moderately eccentric and ranges from 2.601 to 3.522 astronomical units. Interamnia makes a complete revolution around the Sun every 5.36 years.
511 David
Davida is an elongated asteroid measuring 357 x 294 x 231 km. Its orbit is moderately eccentric and ranges from 2.58 to 3.754 astronomical units. 511 David makes a complete revolution around the Sun in 5.64 years. It is believed that there is a massive crater on its surface, the size of which is about 150 km in diameter.
87 Sylvia
Sylvia has a very low density and an elongated shape, approximately 384 x 262 x 232 km. Its orbit is moderately eccentric and ranges from 3.213 to 3.768 astronomical units. It takes 87 Silvia about 6.52 years to complete one orbit around the Sun. The asteroid has two small moons called Romulus and Remus. Romulus has a diameter of about 18 km and is located at a distance of 1356 km from the asteroid, making a full revolution every 87.59 hours. Remus has a diameter of 7 km and is located at a distance of 706 km; it completes a complete revolution around the asteroid in 33.09 hours.
65 Cybele
The asteroid Cybele has a size of about 302 x 290 x 232 km. Its orbit is moderately eccentric and ranges from 3.073 to 3.794 astronomical units. 65 Cybele makes a complete revolution around the Sun every 6.36 years.
15 Eunomia
Eunomia is an elongated asteroid measuring about 357 x 255 x 212 km. Its orbit is moderately eccentric and ranges from 2.149 to 33.138 astronomical units. Eunomia makes a full revolution around the Sun every 4.3 years.
Ceres This rather large celestial body (diameter 975*909 km) has been many things since its discovery: both a full-fledged planet of the solar system and an asteroid, and since 2006 it has acquired a new status - a dwarf planet. The last name is the most correct, since Ceres is not the main one in its orbit, but only the largest in the asteroid belt. It was discovered quite by accident by the Italian astronomer Piazzi in 1801. Ceres has a spherical shape (unusual for asteroids) with a rocky core and a crust of water ice and minerals. The distance between the closest point in the orbit of this solar satellite and the Earth is 263 million kilometers. Its path lies between Mars and Jupiter, but at the same time there is some tendency towards chaotic movement (which increases the chances of collisions with other asteroids and a change in orbit). It is not visible to the naked eye from the surface of our planet - it is only a 7th magnitude star. Pallas Size 582 * 556 kilometers, and it is also part of the asteroid belt. The angle of Pallas' rotation axis is very high - 34 degrees (for other celestial bodies it does not exceed 10). Pallas moves in an orbit with a large degree of deviation, which is why its distance to the Sun changes all the time. This is a carbon asteroid, rich in silicon and is of interest in the future from the point of view of mining. Vesta This is the heaviest asteroid to date, although it is smaller in size than the previous ones. Due to the composition of the rock, Vesta reflects 4 times more light than Ceres, although its diameter is half that. It turns out that this is the only asteroid whose movement can be observed with the naked eye from the surface of the Earth when it approaches once every 3-4 years to a minimum distance of 177 million kilometers. Its movement is carried out along the inner part of the asteroid belt and never crosses our orbit. Interestingly, with a length of 576 kilometers, there is a crater with a diameter of 460 kilometers on its surface. In general, the entire asteroid belt around Jupiter is a giant quarry where celestial bodies collide with each other, fly into pieces and change their orbits - but how Vesta survived a collision with such a large object and retained its integrity remains a mystery. Its core consists of heavy metal, and its crust is made of light rock. Hygeia This asteroid does not intersect with our orbit and revolves around the Sun. A very dim celestial body, although it has a diameter of 407 kilometers, was discovered later than the others. This is the most common type of asteroid, with carbonaceous content. Typically, observing Hygia requires a telescope, but at its closest approach to Earth, it can be seen with binoculars.