Why We Should (And Should Not) Worry About Asteroids
It seems like every few weeks, the tabloids tell us we’re all going to die. The culprit of this frequent apocalypse: Asteroids.
So, let’s talk about asteroids for a bit. The word “asteroid” means “star-like,” although asteroids don’t have anything to do with stars. An asteroid is a small celestial body, basically a chunk of rock, metal, or both. Most asteroids hang out in the Asteroid Belt, which is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The largest asteroid is a dwarf planet named Ceres.
However, not all asteroids hang out in the belt (which, by the way, does not appear to be a former planet which exploded, but is just a place where the various interplaying gravitic forces from the Sun and the gas giants tend to put debris). Some asteroids wander around. And a subset of those are what we call “Earth-crosser” asteroids and “Near-Earth asteroids.” Those are the ones we’re worried about.
What are Near-Earth Asteroids?
These asteroids cross Earth’s orbit while on their own route around the sun. Which means that if things go wrong, they may collide with the Earth. And this actually…