Vulcanoid asteroid
Vulcanoid asteroids are a special group of asteroids which may orbit close to the Sun, closer than the orbit of the planet Mercury.[1] No vulcanoid has ever been discovered; it is not known if they ever existed. Because they would orbit so close to the Sun they could only be seen during twilight, or a solar eclipse.[2] There very small size could make them impossible to see. This part of the Solar System is described as being gravitationally stable, and every other similar stable area has asteroids.[3] If they do exist, vulcanoids would be made of material that would help explain the formation of the planets.[4] If they do not exist, then theories about how the planets were formed might have to change.[5] They are called vulcanoids after a planet, Vulcan, which early astronomers thought they had seen close to the Sun.[6]
References [change]
- ↑ Evans, N. Wyn; Tabachnik, Serge (1999). "Possible Long-Lived Asteroid Belts in the Inner Solar System". Nature 399 (6731): 41–43. doi:10.1038/19919.
- ↑ "Vulcanoids". The Planetary Society. http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/vulcanoids/. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ↑ Britt, Robert Roy (2004). "Vulcanoid search reaches new heights". Space.com. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4066544/. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ↑ "NASA Dryden, Southwest Research Institute Search for Vulcanoids". NASA. 2002. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/NewsReleases/2002/02-20.html. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ↑ Campins, H.; Davis, D. R.; Weidenschilling, S. J.; Magee, M. (1996). "Searching for Vulcanoids". Completing the Inventory of the Solar System, Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Proceedings 107: 85–96.
- ↑ Standage, Tom (2000). The Neptune File. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Allen Lane, The Penguin Press. pp. 144–149. ISBN 0-713-99472-X.
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| Sun • Heliosphere |
Planets ☾ = moon(s) ∅ = rings |
Mercury | Venus | Earth ☾ | Mars ☾ | ||
| Jupiter ☾ ∅ | Saturn ☾ ∅ | Uranus ☾ ∅ | Neptune ☾ ∅ | ||||
| Dwarf planets | Ceres | Pluto ☾ | Haumea ☾ | Makemake | |||
| Eris ☾ | |||||||
| Small Solar System bodies |
Asteroids (minor planets) |
Groups and families: Vulcanoids · Near-Earth asteroids · Asteroid belt Jupiter Trojans · Centaurs · Neptune Trojans · Asteroid moons · Meteoroids · Pallas · Juno · Vesta · Hygiea · Interamnia · Europa |
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| See also the list of asteroids. | |||||||
| Trans- Neptunians |
Kuiper belt – Plutinos: Orcus · Ixion – Cubewanos: Varuna · Quaoar · Huya |
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| Scattered disc: Sedna | |||||||
| Comets | Periodic comets and non-periodic comets Damocloids · Oort cloud |
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| See also the list of solar system objects | |||||||
