Asteroids are minor planets, especially those of the inner Solar System.

The larger ones have also

been called planetoids. These terms have historically been applied to any astronomical object
orbiting the Sun that did not show the disc of a planet and was not observed to have the
characteristics of an active comet. As minor planets in the outer Solar System were discovered and
found to have volatile-based surfaces that resemble those of comets, they were often distinguished
from asteroids of the asteroid belt.[1] In this article, the term "asteroid" refers to the minor planets of
the inner Solar System including those in co-orbit with Jupiter.

There are millions of asteroids, many thought to be the shattered remnants of planetesimals, bodies
within the young Sun'ssolar nebula that never grew large enough to become planets.[2] The large
majority of known asteroids orbit in the asteroid belt 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 asteroids. Individual asteroids are classified by their
characteristicspectra, with the majority falling into three main groups: C-type, S-type, and M-type.
These were named after and are generally identified with carbon-rich, stony,
and metallic compositions, respectively.

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. [3] As of September 2013, the Minor
Planet Center had data on more than one million objects in the inner and outer Solar System, of
which 625,000 had enough information to be given numbered designations. [4]

On 22 January 2014, ESA scientists reported the detection, for the first definitive time, of water
vapor on Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt.[5] The detection was made by using the far-
infrared abilities of the Herschel Space Observatory.[6] The finding is unexpected because comets,
not asteroids, are typically considered to "sprout jets and plumes". According to one of the scientists,
"The lines are becoming more and more blurred between comets and asteroids." [6]

Contents
[show]

Naming[edit]
Main article: Minor planet Naming
2013 EC, shown here in radar images, has a provisional designation

A newly discovered asteroid is given a provisional designation (such as 2002 AT4) consisting of the
year of discovery and an alphanumeric code indicating the half-month of discovery and the
sequence within that half-month. Once an asteroid's orbit has been confirmed, it is given a number,
and later may also be given a name (e.g. 433 Eros). The formal naming convention uses
parentheses around the number (e.g. (433) Eros), but dropping the parentheses is quite common.
Informally, it is common to drop the number altogether, or to drop it after the first mention when a
name is repeated in running text.

Symbols[edit]
Main article: Astronomical symbols

The first asteroids to be discovered were assigned iconic symbols like the ones traditionally used to
designate the planets. By 1855 there were two dozen asteroid symbols, which often occurred in
multiple variants.[7]

Asteroid Symbol Year

1 Ceres Ceres' scythe, reversed to double as the letter C 1801

2 Pallas Athena's (Pallas') spear 1801

A star mounted on a scepter,

3 Juno 1804
for Juno, the Queen of Heaven

4 Vesta The altar and sacred fire of Vesta 1807

5 Astraea A scale, or an inverted anchor, symbols of justice 1845

6 Hebe Hebe's cup 1847

7 Iris A rainbow (iris) and a star 1847

8 Flora A flower (flora), specifically the Rose of England 1847

9 Metis The eye of wisdom and a star 1848

10 Hygiea Hygiea's serpent and a star, or the Rod of Asclepius 1849

11 Parthenope A harp, or a fish and a star; symbols of the sirens 1850

12 Victoria The laurels of victory and a star 1850

13 Egeria A shield, symbol of Egeria's protection, and a star 1850

A dove carrying an olive branch (symbol of

14 Irene irene 'peace') with a star on its head,[8] or 1851
an olive branch, a flag of truce, and a star

A heart, symbol of good order

15 Eunomia 1851
(eunomia), and a star

A butterfly's wing, symbol of

16 Psyche 1852
the soul (psyche), and a star

17 Thetis A dolphin, symbol of Thetis, and a star 1852

18 Melpomene The dagger of Melpomene, and a star 1852

19 Fortuna The wheel of fortune and a star 1852

26 Proserpina Proserpina's pomegranate 1853

28 Bellona Bellona's whip and lance[9] 1854

29 Amphitrite The shell of Amphitrite and a star 1854

35 Leukothea A lighthouse beacon, symbol of Leucothea[10] 1855

37 Fides The cross of faith (fides)[11] 1855

In 1851,[12] after the fifteenth asteroid (Eunomia) had been discovered, Johann Franz Encke made a
major change in the upcoming 1854 edition of the Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch (BAJ, Berlin
Astronomical Yearbook). He introduced a disk (circle), a traditional symbol for a star, as the generic
symbol for an asteroid. The circle was then numbered in order of discovery to indicate a specific
asteroid (although he assigned to the fifth, Astraea, while continuing to designate the first four
only with their existing iconic symbols). The numbered-circle convention was quickly adopted by
astronomers, and the next asteroid to be discovered (16 Psyche, in 1852) was the first to be
designated in that way at the time of its discovery. However, Psyche was given an iconic symbol as
well, as were a few other asteroids discovered over the next few years (see chart above). 20
Massaliawas the first asteroid that was not assigned an iconic symbol, and no iconic symbols were
created after the 1855 discovery of 37 Fides.[13] That year Astraea's number was increased to , but
the first four asteroids, Ceres to Vesta, were not listed by their numbers until the 1867 edition. The
circle was soon abbreviated to a pair of parentheses, which were easier to typeset and sometimes
omitted altogether over the next few decades, leading to the modern convention. [8]

Discovery[edit]

243 Ida and its moon Dactyl. Dactyl is the first satellite of an asteroid to be discovered.
The first asteroid to be discovered, Ceres, was found in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi, and was originally
considered to be a new planet.[note 1]This was followed by the discovery of other similar bodies, which,
with the equipment of the time, appeared to be points of light, like stars, showing little or no planetary
disc, though readily distinguishable from stars due to their apparent motions. This prompted the
astronomerSir William Herschel to propose the term "asteroid",[14] coined in Greek as
asteroeids 'star-like, star-shaped', from Ancient Greek astr 'star, planet'. In the
early second half of the nineteenth century, the terms "asteroid" and "planet" (not always qualified as
"minor") were still used interchangeably; for example, the Annual of Scientific Discovery for 1871,
page 316, reads "Professor J. Watson has been awarded by the Paris Academy of Sciences, the
astronomical prize, Lalande foundation, for the discovery of eight new asteroids in one year. The
planet Lydia (No. 110), discovered by M. Borelly at the Marseilles Observatory [...] M. Borelly had
previously discovered two planets bearing the numbers 91 and 99 in the system of asteroids
revolving between Mars and Jupiter".

Historical methods[edit]
Asteroid discovery methods have dramatically improved over the past two centuries.

In the last years of the 18th century, Baron Franz Xaver von Zach organized a group of 24
astronomers to search the sky for the missing planet predicted at about 2.8 AU from the Sun by
the Titius-Bode law, partly because of the discovery, by Sir William Herschel in 1781, of the
planet Uranus at the distance predicted by the law. This task required that hand-drawn sky charts be
prepared for all stars in the zodiacal band down to an agreed-upon limit of faintness. On subsequent
nights, the sky would be charted again and any moving object would, hopefully, be spotted. The
expected motion of the missing planet was about 30 seconds of arc per hour, readily discernible by
observers.

First asteroid image (Ceres andVesta) from Mars viewed byCuriosity (20 April 2014).

The first object, Ceres, was not discovered by a member of the group, but rather by accident in 1801
by Giuseppe Piazzi, director of the observatory of Palermo in Sicily. He discovered a new star-like
object in Taurus and followed the displacement of this object during several nights. Later that
year, Carl Friedrich Gauss used these observations to calculate the orbit of this unknown object,
which was found to be between the planets Mars and Jupiter. Piazzi named it after Ceres, the
Roman goddess of agriculture.

Three other asteroids (2 Pallas, 3 Juno, and 4 Vesta) were discovered over the next few years, with
Vesta found in 1807. After eight more years of fruitless searches, most astronomers assumed that
there were no more and abandoned any further searches.

However, Karl Ludwig Hencke persisted, and began searching for more asteroids in 1830. Fifteen
years later, he found 5 Astraea, the first new asteroid in 38 years. He also found 6 Hebe less than
two years later. After this, other astronomers joined in the search and at least one new asteroid was
discovered every year after that (except the wartime year 1945). Notable asteroid hunters of this
early era were J. R. Hind,Annibale de Gasparis, Robert Luther, H. M. S. Goldschmidt, Jean
Chacornac, James Ferguson, Norman Robert Pogson, E. W. Tempel, J. C. Watson, C. H. F.
Peters, A. Borrelly, J. Palisa, the Henry brothers and Auguste Charlois.

In 1891, Max Wolf pioneered the use of astrophotography to detect asteroids, which appeared as
short streaks on long-exposure photographic plates. This dramatically increased the rate of detection
compared with earlier visual methods: Wolf alone discovered 248 asteroids, beginning with 323
Brucia, whereas only slightly more than 300 had been discovered up to that point. It was known that
there were many more, but most astronomers did not bother with them, [15] calling them "vermin of the
skies", a phrase variously attributed to Eduard Suess[16] and Edmund Weiss.[17] Even a century later,
only a few thousand asteroids were identified, numbered and named.

Manual methods of the 1900s and modern reporting[edit]

Until 1998, asteroids were discovered by a four-step process. First, a region of the sky
was photographed by a wide-field telescope, or astrograph. Pairs of photographs were taken,
typically one hour apart. Multiple pairs could be taken over a series of days. Second, the two films
or plates of the same region were viewed under a stereoscope. Any body in orbit around the Sun
would move slightly between the pair of films. Under the stereoscope, the image of the body would
seem to float slightly above the background of stars. Third, once a moving body was identified, its
location would be measured precisely using a digitizing microscope. The location would be
measured relative to known star locations.[18]

These first three steps do not constitute asteroid discovery: the observer has only found an
apparition, which gets a provisional designation, made up of the year of discovery, a letter
representing the half-month of discovery, and finally a letter and a number indicating the discovery's
sequential number (example: 1998 FJ74).

The last step of discovery is to send the locations and time of observations to the Minor Planet
Center, where computer programs determine whether an apparition ties together earlier apparitions
into a single orbit. If so, the object receives a catalogue number and the observer of the first
apparition with a calculated orbit is declared the discoverer, and granted the honor of naming the
object subject to the approval of the International Astronomical Union.

Computerized methods[edit]

2004 FH is the center dot being followed by the sequence; the object that flashes by during the clip is
an artificial satellite.

There is increasing interest in identifying asteroids whose orbits cross Earth's, and that could, given
enough time, collide with Earth(see Earth-crosser asteroids). The three most important groups
of near-Earth asteroids are the Apollos, Amors, and Atens. Variousasteroid deflection
strategies have been proposed, as early as the 1960s.

The near-Earth asteroid 433 Eros had been discovered as long ago as 1898, and the 1930s brought
a flurry of similar objects. In order of discovery, these were: 1221 Amor, 1862 Apollo, 2101 Adonis,
and finally 69230 Hermes, which approached within 0.005 AUof Earth in 1937. Astronomers began
to realize the possibilities of Earth impact.

Two events in later decades increased the alarm: the increasing acceptance of Walter Alvarez'
hypothesis that an impact eventresulted in the CretaceousPaleogene extinction, and the 1994
observation of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashing into Jupiter. The U.S. military also declassified
the information that its military satellites, built to detect nuclear explosions, had detected hundreds of
upper-atmosphere impacts by objects ranging from one to 10 metres across.

All these considerations helped spur the launch of highly efficient surveys that consist of Charge-
Coupled Device (CCD) cameras and computers directly connected to telescopes. As of spring 2011,
it was estimated that 89% to 96% of near-Earth asteroids one kilometer or larger in diameter had
been discovered.[19] A list of teams using such systems includes:[20]

The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) team

 The Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) team

Spacewatch

The Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) team

The Catalina Sky Survey (CSS)

The Campo Imperatore Near-Earth Object Survey (CINEOS) team

The Japanese Spaceguard Association

The Asiago-DLR Asteroid Survey (ADAS)

The LINEAR system alone has discovered 138,393 asteroids, as of 20 September 2013. [21] Among
all the surveys, 4711 near-Earth asteroids have been discovered [22] including over 600 more than
1 km (0.6 mi) in diameter.

Terminology[edit]

A composite image, to scale, of the asteroids which have been imaged at high resolution. As of 2011 they are,
from largest to smallest: 4 Vesta, 21 Lutetia, 253 Mathilde, 243 Ida and its moon Dactyl, 433 Eros,951
Gaspra, 2867 teins, 25143 Itokawa.

The largest asteroid in the previous image, Vesta (left), with Ceres(center) and the Moon (right) shown to scale.

Traditionally, small bodies orbiting the Sun were classified as asteroids, comets or meteoroids, with
anything smaller than ten metres across being called a meteoroid. [23][24] The term "asteroid" is ill-
defined. It never had a formal definition, with the broader term minor planet being preferred by
the International Astronomical Union. In 2006, the term "small Solar System body" was introduced to
cover both most minor planets and comets.[25] Other languages prefer "planetoid" (Greek for "planet-
like"), and this term is occasionally used in English for larger minor planets such as the dwarf
planets. The word "planetesimal" has a similar meaning, but refers specifically to the small building
blocks of the planets that existed when the Solar System was forming. The term "planetule" was
coined by the geologist William Daniel Conybeare to describe minor planets,[26] but is not in common
use. The three largest objects in the asteroid belt, Ceres, 2 Pallas, and 4 Vesta, grew to the stage
of protoplanets. Ceres is a dwarf planet, the only one in the inner Solar System.

When found, asteroids were seen as a class of objects distinct from comets, and there was no
unified term for the two until "small Solar System body" was coined in 2006. The main difference
between an asteroid and a comet is that a comet shows a coma due to sublimation of near surface
ices by solar radiation. A few objects have ended up being dual-listed because they were first
classified as minor planets but later showed evidence of cometary activity. Conversely, some
(perhaps all) comets are eventually depleted of their surface volatile ices and become asteroids. A
further distinction is that comets typically have more eccentric orbits than most asteroids; most
"asteroids" with notably eccentric orbits are probably dormant or extinct comets. [27]

For almost two centuries, from the discovery of Ceres in 1801 until the discovery of the
first centaur, 2060 Chiron, in 1977, all known asteroids spent most of their time at or within the orbit
of Jupiter, though a few such as 944 Hidalgo ventured far beyond Jupiter for part of their orbit. When
astronomers started finding more small bodies that permanently resided further out than Jupiter, now
called centaurs, they numbered them among the traditional asteroids, though there was debate over
whether they should be considered as asteroids or as a new type of object. Then, when the
first trans-Neptunian object (other than Pluto), 1992 QB1, was discovered in 1992, and especially
when large numbers of similar objects started turning up, new terms were invented to sidestep the
issue: Kuiper-belt object, trans-Neptunian object,scattered-disc object, and so on. These inhabit the
cold outer reaches of the Solar System where ices remain solid and comet-like bodies are not
expected to exhibit much cometary activity; if centaurs or trans-Neptunian objects were to venture
close to the Sun, their volatile ices would sublimate, and traditional approaches would classify them
as comets and not asteroids.

The innermost of these are the Kuiper-belt objects, called "objects" partly to avoid the need to
classify them as asteroids or comets.[28] They are believed to be predominantly comet-like in
composition, though some may be more akin to asteroids.[29] Furthermore, most do not have the
highly eccentric orbits associated with comets, and the ones so far discovered are larger than
traditional comet nuclei. (The much more distant Oort cloud is hypothesized to be the main reservoir
of dormant comets.) Other recent observations, such as the analysis of the cometary dust collected
by the Stardust probe, are increasingly blurring the distinction between comets and asteroids,
[30]
suggesting "a continuum between asteroids and comets" rather than a sharp dividing line. [31]
The minor planets beyond Jupiter's orbit are sometimes also called "asteroids", especially in popular
presentations.[32] However, it is becoming increasingly common for the term "asteroid" to be restricted
to minor planets of the inner Solar System.[28] Therefore, this article will restrict itself for the most part
to the classical asteroids: objects of the asteroid belt, Jupiter trojans, and near-Earth objects.

When the IAU introduced the class small Solar System bodies in 2006 to include most objects
previously classified as minor planets and comets, they created the class of dwarf planets for the
largest minor planetsthose that have enough mass to have become ellipsoidal under their own
gravity. According to the IAU, "the term 'minor planet' may still be used, but generally the term 'Small
Solar System Body' will be preferred."[33] Currently only the largest object in the asteroid belt, Ceres,
at about 950 km (590 mi) across, has been placed in the dwarf planet category.

Formation[edit]
Artists impression shows how an asteroid torn apart by the strong gravity of a white dwarf.[34]

It is believed that planetesimals in the asteroid belt evolved much like the rest of the solar
nebula until Jupiter neared its current mass, at which point excitation from orbital resonances with
Jupiter ejected over 99% of planetesimals in the belt. Simulations and a discontinuity in spin rate and
spectral properties suggest that asteroids larger than approximately 120 km (75 mi) in diameter
accreted during that early era, whereas smaller bodies are fragments from collisions between
asteroids during or after the Jovian disruption.[35] Ceres and Vesta grew large enough to melt
and differentiate, with heavy metallic elements sinking to the core, leaving rocky minerals in the
crust.[36]

In the Nice model, many Kuiper-belt objects are captured in the outer asteroid belt, at distances
greater than 2.6 AU. Most were later ejected by Jupiter, but those that remained may be the D-type
asteroids, and possibly include Ceres.[37]

Distribution within the Solar System[edit]

See also: list of minor-planet groups, List of notable asteroids and List of minor planets
The asteroid belt (white) and Jupiter'strojan asteroids (green)

Various dynamical groups of asteroids have been discovered orbiting in the inner Solar System.
Their orbits are perturbed by the gravity of other bodies in the Solar System and by the Yarkovsky
effect. Significant populations include:

Asteroid belt[edit]
Main article: Asteroid belt

The majority of known asteroids orbit within the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter,
generally in relatively low-eccentricity (i.e. not very elongated) orbits. This belt is now estimated to
contain between 1.1 and 1.9 million asteroids larger than 1 km (0.6 mi) in diameter,[38] and millions of
smaller ones. These asteroids may be remnants of the protoplanetary disk, and in this region
the accretion of planetesimals into planets during the formative period of the Solar System was
prevented by large gravitational perturbations by Jupiter.

Trojans[edit]
Main article: Trojan (astronomy)

Trojans are populations that share an orbit with a larger planet or moon, but do not collide with it
because they orbit in one of the twoLagrangian points of stability, L4 and L5, which lie 60 ahead of
and behind the larger body.

The most significant population of trojans are the Jupiter trojans. Although fewer Jupiter trojans have
been discovered as of 2010, it is thought that they are as numerous as the asteroids in the asteroid
belt.

A couple of trojans have also been found orbiting with Mars.[note 2]

Near-Earth asteroids[edit]
Main article: Near-Earth asteroids
Near-Earth asteroids, or NEAs, are asteroids that have orbits that pass close to that of Earth.
Asteroids that actually cross Earth's orbital path are known as Earth-crossers. As of November 2014,
11,600 near-Earth asteroids are known[19] and the number over one kilometre in diameter is
estimated to be 9001,000.

Frequency of bolides, small asteroids roughly 1 to 20 meters in diameter impacting Earth's atmosphere.

Characteristics[edit]
Size distribution[edit]

Sizes of the first ten asteroids to be discovered, compared to the Moon

Ceres as imaged by Dawn on 4 February 2015

Asteroids vary greatly in size, from almost 1000 km for the largest down to rocks just tens of metres
across.[note 3] The three largest are very much like miniature planets: they are roughly spherical, have
at least partly differentiated interiors,[39] and are thought to be surviving protoplanets. The vast
majority, however, are much smaller and are irregularly shaped; they are thought to be either
surviving planetesimals or fragments of larger bodies.

The dwarf planet Ceres is by far the largest asteroid, with a diameter of 975 km (610 mi). The next
largest are 2 Pallas and 4 Vesta, both with diameters of just over 500 km (300 mi). Vesta is the only
main-belt asteroid that can, on occasion, be visible to the naked eye. On some rare occasions, a
near-Earth asteroid may briefly become visible without technical aid; see 99942 Apophis.

The mass of all the objects of the asteroid belt, lying between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, is
estimated to be about 2.83.21021 kg, or about 4% of the mass of the Moon. Of
this, Ceres comprises 0.951021 kg, a third of the total.[40] Adding in the next three most massive
objects, Vesta (9%), Pallas (7%), and Hygiea (3%), brings this figure up to 51%; whereas the three
after that, 511 Davida (1.2%), 704 Interamnia (1.0%), and 52 Europa (0.9%), only add another 3% to
the total mass. The number of asteroids then increases rapidly as their individual masses decrease.

The number of asteroids decreases markedly with size. Although this generally follows a power law,
there are 'bumps' at 5 km and 100 km, where more asteroids than expected from a logarithmic
distribution are found.[41]

The asteroids of the Solar System, categorized by size and number

Approximate number of asteroids (N) larger than a certain diameter (D)

300 500 1k 3k 5k 10 30 50 100 200 300 500 900

D 100 m
m m m m m km km km km km km km km

~2500 4000 2000 750 200 900 100 110

N 600 200 30 5 3 1
0000 000 000 000 000 00 00 0

Largest asteroids[edit]
See also: Largest asteroids
The relative masses of the twelve largest asteroidsknown,[42] compared to the remaining mass of the asteroid
belt.[43]

1 Ceres 704 Interamnia 16 Psyche

4 Vesta 511 Davida 52 Europa
2 Pallas 532 Herculina all others
10 Hygiea 15 Eunomia
31 Euphrosyne 3 Juno

Although their location in the asteroid belt excludes them from planet status, the three largest
objects, Ceres, Vesta, and Pallas, are intact protoplanets that share many characteristics common to
planets, and are atypical compared to the majority of "potato"-shaped asteroids.

Ceres is the only asteroid with a fully ellipsoidal shape and hence the only one that is a dwarf planet.
[44]
It has a much higher absolute magnitude than the other asteroids, of around 3.32,[45] and may
possess a surface layer of ice.[46]Like the planets, Ceres is differentiated: it has a crust, a mantle and
a core.[46] No meteorites from Ceres have been found on Earth.

Vesta, too, has a differentiated interior, though it formed inside the Solar System's frost line, and so
is devoid of water;[47] its composition is mainly of basaltic rock such as olivine. [48] Aside from the large
crater at its southern pole,Rheasilvia, Vesta also has an ellipsoidal shape. Vesta is the parent body
of the Vestian family and other V-type asteroids, and is the source of the HED meteorites, which
constitute 5% of all meteorites on Earth.

Pallas is unusual in that, like Uranus, it rotates on its side, with its axis of rotation tilted at high angles
to its orbital plane.[49] Its composition is similar to that of Ceres: high in carbon and silicon, and
perhaps partially differentiated.[50]Pallas is the parent body of the Palladian family of asteroids,

The fourth-most-massive asteroid, Hygiea, is the largest carbonaceous asteroid and, unlike the other
largest asteroids, lies relatively close to the plane of the ecliptic.[51] It is the largest member and
presumed parent body of theHygiean family of asteroids. Between them, the four largest asteroids
constitute half the mass of the asteroid belt.
 Attributes of largest asteroids

Orbit
Orbit Diame
al Inclinati Mass Rotati
al Orbital ter Mass Densit Axi Surface
perio on Diameter (% of on
Name radiu eccentri (% (1018 y[52] al temperat
d to (km) Cere period
s city of Moo kg) g/cm3 tilt ure
(year ecliptic s) (hr)
(AU) n)
s)

573557
3.44
Vest 2.3 3.6 446 28 29 85
7.1 0.089 15% 260 5.34
a 6 3 (mean % 270 K
0.12
525)

975975
2.12
Cere 2.7 4.6 909 100
10.6 0.079 28% 940 9.07 167 K
s 7 0 (mean % 3
0.04
952)

580555
2.71
Palla 2.7 4.6 500 22
34.8 0.231 16% 210 7.81 80 164 K
s 7 2 (mean %
0.11
545)

530407

Hygi 3.1 5.5 370 2.76
3.8 0.117 12% 87 9% 27.6 60 164 K
ea 4 6 (mean 1.2

430)

Rotation[edit]
Measurements of the rotation rates of large asteroids in the asteroid belt show that there is an upper
limit. No asteroid with a diameter larger than 100 meters has a rotation period smaller than 2.2
hours. For asteroids rotating faster than approximately this rate, the inertia at the surface is greater
than the gravitational force, so any loose surface material would be flung out. However, a solid
object should be able to rotate much more rapidly. This suggests that most asteroids with a diameter
over 100 meters are rubble piles formed through accumulation of debris after collisions between
asteroids.[53]

Composition[edit]
Cratered terrain on 4 Vesta

The physical composition of asteroids is varied and in most cases poorly understood. Ceres appears
to be composed of a rocky core covered by an icy mantle, where Vesta is thought to have a nickel-
iron core, olivine mantle, and basaltic crust.[54] 10 Hygiea, however, which appears to have a
uniformly primitive composition of carbonaceous chondrite, is thought to be the largest
undifferentiated asteroid. Most of the smaller asteroids are thought to be piles of rubble held together
loosely by gravity, though the largest are probably solid. Some asteroids have moons or are co-
orbiting binaries: Rubble piles, moons, binaries, and scattered asteroid families are believed to be
the results of collisions that disrupted a parent asteroid.

Asteroids contain traces of amino acids and other organic compounds, and some speculate that
asteroid impacts may have seeded the early Earth with the chemicals necessary to initiate life, or
may have even brought life itself to Earth (also see panspermia).[55] In August 2011, a report, based
on NASA studies with meteorites found on Earth, was published
suggesting DNA and RNA components (adenine,guanine and related organic molecules) may have
been formed on asteroids and comets in outer space.[56][57][58]

Asteroid collision building planets (artist concept).

Composition is calculated from three primary sources: albedo, surface spectrum, and density. The
last can only be determined accurately by observing the orbits of moons the asteroid might have. So
far, every asteroid with moons has turned out to be a rubble pile, a loose conglomeration of rock and
metal that may be half empty space by volume. The investigated asteroids are as large as 280 km in
diameter, and include 121 Hermione (268186183 km), and 87 Sylvia(384262232 km). Only half
a dozen asteroids are larger than 87 Sylvia, though none of them have moons; however, some
smaller asteroids are thought to be more massive, suggesting they may not have been disrupted,
and indeed 511 Davida, the same size as Sylvia to within measurement error, is estimated to be two
and a half times as massive, though this is highly uncertain. The fact that such large asteroids as
Sylvia can be rubble piles, presumably due to disruptive impacts, has important consequences for
the formation of the Solar System: Computer simulations of collisions involving solid bodies show
them destroying each other as often as merging, but colliding rubble piles are more likely to merge.
This means that the cores of the planets could have formed relatively quickly.[59]

On 7 October 2009, the presence of water ice was confirmed on the surface of 24
Themis using NASAs Infrared Telescope Facility. The surface of the asteroid appears completely
covered in ice. As this ice layer is sublimated, it may be getting replenished by a reservoir of ice
under the surface. Organic compounds were also detected on the surface. [60][61][62][63] Scientists
hypothesize that some of the first water brought to Earth was delivered by asteroid impacts after the
collision that produced the Moon. The presence of ice on 24 Themis supports this theory.[62]

In October 2013, water was detected on an extrasolar body for the first time, on an asteroid orbiting
the white dwarf GD 61.[64]

Surface features[edit]
Most asteroids outside the "big four" (Ceres, Pallas, Vesta, and Hygiea) are likely to be broadly
similar in appearance, if irregular in shape. 50-km (31-mi) 253 Mathilde is a rubble pile saturated
with craters with diameters the size of the asteroid's radius, and Earth-based observations of 300-km
(186-mi) 511 Davida, one of the largest asteroids after the big four, reveal a similarly angular profile,
suggesting it is also saturated with radius-size craters.[65] Medium-sized asteroids such as Mathilde
and 243 Ida that have been observed up close also reveal a deep regolith covering the surface. Of
the big four, Pallas and Hygiea are practically unknown. Vesta has compression fractures encircling
a radius-size crater at its south pole but is otherwise a spheroid. Ceres seems quite different in the
glimpses Hubble has provided, with surface features that are unlikely to be due to simple craters and
impact basins, but details will be expanded with the Dawn spacecraft, which entered Ceres orbit on
6 March 2015.[66]

Color[edit]
Asteroids become darker and redder with age due to space weathering.[67] However evidence
suggests most of the color change occurs rapidly, in the first hundred thousands years, limiting the
usefulness of spectral measurement for determining the age of asteroids. [68]

Classification[edit]
Asteroids are commonly classified according to two criteria: the characteristics of their orbits, and
features of their reflectance spectrum.
Orbital classification[edit]
Main articles: Asteroid group and Asteroid family

Many asteroids have been placed in groups and families based on their orbital characteristics. Apart
from the broadest divisions, it is customary to name a group of asteroids after the first member of
that group to be discovered. Groups are relatively loose dynamical associations, whereas families
are tighter and result from the catastrophic break-up of a large parent asteroid sometime in the past.
[69]
Families have only been recognized within the asteroid belt. They were first recognized
by Kiyotsugu Hirayama in 1918 and are often called Hirayama families in his honor.

About 3035% of the bodies in the asteroid belt belong to dynamical families each thought to have a
common origin in a past collision between asteroids. A family has also been associated with the
plutoid dwarf planet Haumea.

Quasi-satellites and horseshoe objects[edit]

Some asteroids have unusual horseshoe orbits that are co-orbital with Earth or some other planet.
Examples are 3753 Cruithne and 2002 AA29. The first instance of this type of orbital arrangement
was discovered between Saturn's moons Epimetheus and Janus.

Sometimes these horseshoe objects temporarily become quasi-satellites for a few decades or a few
hundred years, before returning to their earlier status. Both Earth and Venusare known to have
quasi-satellites.

Such objects, if associated with Earth or Venus or even hypothetically Mercury, are a special class
of Aten asteroids. However, such objects could be associated with outer planets as well.

Spectral classification[edit]
Main article: Asteroid spectral types

This picture of 433 Eros shows the view looking from one end of the asteroid across the gouge on its underside
and toward the opposite end. Features as small as 35 m (115 ft) across can be seen.

In 1975, an asteroid taxonomic system based on color, albedo, and spectral shape was developed
by Clark R. Chapman, David Morrison, and Ben Zellner.[70] These properties are thought to
correspond to the composition of the asteroid's surface material. The original classification system
had three categories: C-types for dark carbonaceous objects (75% of known asteroids), S-types for
stony (silicaceous) objects (17% of known asteroids) and U for those that did not fit into either C or
S. This classification has since been expanded to include many other asteroid types. The number of
types continues to grow as more asteroids are studied.

The two most widely used taxonomies now used are the Tholen classification and SMASS
classification. The former was proposed in 1984 by David J. Tholen, and was based on data
collected from an eight-color asteroid survey performed in the 1980s. This resulted in 14 asteroid
categories.[71] In 2002, the Small Main-Belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey resulted in a modified
version of the Tholen taxonomy with 24 different types. Both systems have three broad categories of
C, S, and X asteroids, where X consists of mostly metallic asteroids, such as the M-type. There are
also several smaller classes.[72]

The proportion of known asteroids falling into the various spectral types does not necessarily reflect
the proportion of all asteroids that are of that type; some types are easier to detect than others,
biasing the totals.

Problems[edit]

Originally, spectral designations were based on inferences of an asteroid's composition. [73] However,
the correspondence between spectral class and composition is not always very good, and a variety
of classifications are in use. This has led to significant confusion. Although asteroids of different
spectral classifications are likely to be composed of different materials, there are no assurances that
asteroids within the same taxonomic class are composed of similar materials.

Exploration[edit]
See also: Sample return mission, Asteroid mining and Colonization of the asteroids

951 Gaspra is the first asteroid to be imaged in close-up (enhanced color).

Vesta imaged by the Dawn spacecraft

Several views of 433 Eros in natural colour

Until the age of space travel, objects in the asteroid belt were merely pinpricks of light in even the
largest telescopes and their shapes and terrain remained a mystery. The best modern ground-based
telescopes and the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope can resolve a small amount of detail on
the surfaces of the largest asteroids, but even these mostly remain little more than fuzzy blobs.
Limited information about the shapes and compositions of asteroids can be inferred from their light
curves (their variation in brightness as they rotate) and their spectral properties, and asteroid sizes
can be estimated by timing the lengths of star occulations (when an asteroid passes directly in front
of a star). Radar imaging can yield good information about asteroid shapes and orbital and rotational
parameters, especially for near-Earth asteroids. In terms of delta-v and propellant requirements,
NEOs are more easily accessible than the Moon.[74]

The first close-up photographs of asteroid-like objects were taken in 1971 when the Mariner 9 probe
imaged Phobos and Deimos, the two small moons of Mars, which are probably captured asteroids.
These images revealed the irregular, potato-like shapes of most asteroids, as did later images from
the Voyager probes of the small moons of the gas giants.

The first true asteroid to be photographed in close-up was 951 Gaspra in 1991, followed in 1993
by 243 Ida and its moon Dactyl, all of which were imaged by the Galileo probe en route to Jupiter.
The first dedicated asteroid probe was NEAR Shoemaker, which photographed 253 Mathilde in
1997, before entering into orbit around433 Eros, finally landing on its surface in 2001.

Other asteroids briefly visited by spacecraft en route to other destinations include 9969
Braille (by Deep Space 1 in 1999), and 5535 Annefrank (by Stardust in 2002).

In September 2005, the Japanese Hayabusa probe started studying 25143 Itokawa in detail and was
plagued with difficulties, but returned samples of its surface to Earth on 13 June 2010.

The European Rosetta probe (launched in 2004) flew by 2867 teins in 2008 and 21 Lutetia, the
third-largest asteroid visited to date, in 2010.

In September 2007, NASA launched the Dawn Mission, which orbited 4 Vesta from July 2011 to
September 2012, and is now orbiting the dwarf planet 1 Ceres. 4 Vesta is the second-largest
asteroid visited to date.

On 13 December 2012, China's lunar orbiter Chang'e 2 flew within 2 miles (3.2 km) of the
asteroid 4179 Toutatis on an extended mission.

Planned and future missions[edit]

Concept art for the proposed Psyche at 16 Psyche, an unexplored large metallic asteroid

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans to launch around 2015 the
improved Hayabusa 2 space probe and to return asteroid samples by 2020. Current target for the
mission is the C-type asteroid 162173 Ryugu.

In May 2011, NASA announced the OSIRIS-REx sample return mission to asteroid 1999 RQ36, and
is expected to launch in 2016.

On 15 February 2013, an asteroid measuring approximately 18 metres (59 feet) with a mass of
about 9,100 tonnes (10,000 short tons) exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia causing 1,500 injuries
and damaging 7,000 buildings. Small samples of the rocky Chelyabinsk meteorite were quickly
recovered and analyzed with a larger fragment found several months later.
In early 2013, NASA announced the planning stages of a mission to capture a near-Earth asteroid
and move it into lunar orbit where it could possibly be visited by astronauts and later impacted into
the Moon.[75] On 19 June 2014, NASA reported that asteroid 2011 MD was a prime candidate for
capture by a robotic mission, perhaps in the early 2020s.[76]

It has been suggested that asteroids might be used as a source of materials that may be rare or
exhausted on Earth (asteroid mining), or materials for constructing space habitats (see Colonization
of the asteroids). Materials that are heavy and expensive to launch from Earth may someday be
mined from asteroids and used for space manufacturing and construction.

In the U.S. Discovery program the Psyche (spacecraft) proposal to 16 Psyche and Lucy
(spacecraft) to Jupiter trojans made it to the semifinalist stage of mission selection.

Fiction
Main article: Asteroids in fiction

Asteroids and the asteroid belt are a staple of science fiction stories. Asteroids play several potential
roles in science fiction: as places human beings might colonize, resources for extracting minerals,
hazards encountered by spaceships traveling between two other points, and as a threat to life on
Earth by potential impact.