I’m not going to talk much here – I’m going to let the pictures speak for themselves – but this is the place for any Star Wars and Lego geek to come and be bowled over!
Enjoy!
All pictures my own.
Simon 🙂
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Monthly Archives: June 2016
Solar System Exploration – Asteroid Belt and Ceres
The asteroid belt is a region that exists between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where a high number of asteroids have settled in their own orbits around the sun. There are hundreds of thousands of asteroids in this region, ranging in size from the dwarf planet Ceres down to a dust particle.
Facts about the Asteroid Belt
Unlike the images of a dense region of rock as shown in science fiction, these asteroids in this region are spaced far apart. If we were to imagine travelling in this region in a spacecraft it would be difficult to hit an object without deliberately aiming for it. The total mass of material in the asteroid belt is estimated to be about 4% of the mass of the moon.
Credit: Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_belt
Prominent Objects in the Asteroid Belt
The most prominent objects in this region are Ceres, Vesta, Palla and Hygiea. These four bodies make up for half the mass of the asteroid belt. Ceres itself being the biggest being made up of around a third of the total mass.
The chart clearly shows the mass that the main objects in the Asteroid belt as a part of the total mass.
Ceres:
Ceres is 587 miles (947 kilometers) across and is comprised of rock and ice. Being the largest object in the asteroid belt, Ceres makes up about 1/3 of the total mass of the asteroid be belt. Ceres is the only object in the asteroid belt to be rounded by it’s oven gravity. It’s generally know that Ceres is made up of rock and ice, it’s makeup has highlighted that the difference between asteroids an comets is not as dissimilar as once thought.
Ceres was discovered in 1801 and was originally designated as a planet, until other similar sized objects were discovered in the region. The name Ceres comes from the Roman God of agriculture.
Vesta
Vesta has a mean diameter of 326 miles (525 kilometers) and is irregularly shaped. Â Vesta’s mass makes up about 9% of the total mass of the asteroid belt.
Vesta was discovered in 1807 and is named after the virgin Goddess of home and heart in Roman mythology.
Pallas
Pallas is the third largest object in the asteroid belt, with a mean diameter of 318 miles (512 kilometers) it’s mass makes up for about 7% of the total mass of the asteroid belt. It is thought that Pallas is a proto-planet – the embryo of a planet that didn’t continue to form.
Pallas was discovered in 1802 and is named after Athena, Pallas is an alternative name sometimes used for Athena. Some stories say she took them name from a friend that she killed.
Hygiea
Hygiea is the fourth largest object in the asteroid belt, it’s irregular shape put’s it’s diameter at somewhere between 200-300 miles (350-500 kilometers) and makes up about 2.9% of the total mass of the asteroid belt.
Hygiea was discovered in 1849 and named after Hygieia the Greek Goddess of health.
Recent Events
In September 2007 the Dawn mission was launched in order to carry out observations on Vesta and Ceres. The mission was the first to visit two non-planetary objects. In order to be able to have the power to visit these two asteroids it uses a highly efficient ion drive to propel it.
In 2011 Dawn entered orbit around Vesta and carried out observations for a year. Dawn made discoveries about two massive asteroid impacts on Vesta, that damaged it’s interior and crumpled part of it’s surface and also about dark, carbon rich material observed on Vesta.
In 2012 the Vesta phase of the Dawn mission ended before proceeding to the second part of the mission – Ceres.
In March 2015 Dawn entered orbit around Ceres, but even before it arrived there one feature on Ceres was shining out to us – literally. Two bright spots shining out from with a crater named Occator. From a distance it looks like two bright shining lights are beaming out from the surface, theories bounced around about what these spots could be and certainly they’re tantalising as they are in stark contrast to the otherwise dusty grey surface.
Dawns mission to Ceres’ has been dominated by finding out more about these spots and has been getting closer and closer to the surface to try and find the answers.
It is now thought that the white material is sodium carbonate, brought up to the surface by some kind of hydrothermal activity. This puts the possibility of water or water ice beneath the surface of Ceres and that the core may be hotter than originally thought.
What next for Dawn though? Dawn is likely to remain a permanent satellite of Ceres due to it’s highly stable orbit. But there is the possibility that the mission could be extended and a flyby of a third object such as Pallas could be carried out.
What is clear from the Dawn mission is the difference between asteroids and comets is less clear and of course even seemingly boring old asteroids hold secrets of great interest. Although they’ve not yet found huge spaceship eating worms!
Simon Farnell
No ownership claimed on images or material – Credit NASA & Wikipedia
All Bloggers! I need your Input!
Hi ya Bloggies! I’ve updated the look of my site now, I think it’s looks pretty neat. But have a play and see if it works as well I think it does.
Also, I’ve been thinking that running this and the universeofpossibility blogs separately is silly and merging them would be a good idea – what do you think?
Simon 🙂
Legoland – For the Child and Geek Within
A little while ago I had a little trip to a fantasy land call Legoland! I can’t imagine how a place could not inspire the inner child in everyone. Where there are normally wild animals, there are Lego animals, Lego buildings Lego Villages. There really is something for everyone.
I’m not a great one for rides, so I wasn’t too bothered when the waiting times for the rides was so long. If anything that was the biggest damper on the day (apart from the rain)! Also, when you get in after paying many arms and legs they still want more money from you, but you can’t help notice the skill and effort that’s gone into all the creation of Lego structures.
From Dragons…
The the Lego village with all it’s mechanised railways and boats…
The NASA space centre..
And a good old fashioned dinosaur!
Everything moves… even this menacing spider!
It was great to see how it had changed as I haven’t been there for years! The best thing is I’m not done with Legoland yet – A post of some of the most impressive Lego models I’ve ever seen is coming in it’s own post!
Simon 🙂
All pictures my own.
Minion Thoughts -Weird and Wonderful People
I miss these kinds of people – haven’t seen one in a while.
Simon 🙂
Damn this cat is fast!
Is this cat hungry? Or perhaps shot out of a cannon? Either way, it’s coming for ya and it’s not messing about!
Simon 🙂
No ownership claimed in image, taken from Twitter via perfectly timed images.
Minion Thoughts – Dealing with assholes
This is true… I still find them and the sarcasm is lost on them!
Simon 🙂
ESA’s Week In Images
As usual ESA has dropped a nice email of images into my inbox – sharing them with you all is always a treat! This week sees a new image from Rosetta, Tim Peake back on Earth and some floating piers.
via Week In Images / Highlights / ESA
Simon 🙂
No ownership claimed on images – Credit: ESA
Where My feet have been – Roller Skating
This weekend was a busy, fun and painful weekend. On Sunday I had the joy of going roller skating for the second time ever in my life. Imagine an over sized lump of a guy trying to get around the rink on skates and you’re about there.
I did pretty well as it turns out, but I fell flat on my back avoiding someone and that was it. I had had enough! It’s pretty painful and it’s a hard floor. I had fun and will do it again – but I need to remember my limits! 😀
What did you guys get up to over the weekend?
Simon 🙂
Charon’s Canyon Dwarfs the Grand Canyon
New Horizons captured a good view of a canyon on Charon at 430 miles long and over 5 miles deep it dwarfs the Grand Canyon on Earth. See the full article here:
via A ‘Super Grand Canyon’ on Pluto’s Moon Charon | NASA
Simon 🙂
No ownership claimed on images or materials – Credit: NASA
