Medical and Hospital News  
IRON AND ICE
WISE Mission Spots 'Horseshoe' Asteroid

Astronomers used the Las Cumbres Observatory's Faulkes Telescope North in Hawaii to track asteroid 2010 SO16, circled here in red. Image credit: Las Cumbres Observatory, Faulkes Telescopes.
by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 12, 2011
An asteroid recently discovered by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) may be a bit of an oddball. Most near-Earth asteroids - NEAs for short - have eccentric, or egg-shaped, orbits that take the asteroids right through the inner solar system. The new object, designated 2010 SO16, is different. Its orbit is almost circular such that it cannot come close to any other planet in the solar system except Earth.

However, even though the asteroid rides around with Earth, it never gets that close.

"It keeps well away from Earth," said Apostolos "Tolis" Christou, who, together with David Asher of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, analyzed the orbit of the body after it was discovered in infrared images taken by WISE.

"So well, in fact, that it has likely been in this orbit for several hundred thousand years, never coming closer to our planet than 50 times the distance to the moon."

The asteroid is one of a few that trace out a horseshoe shape relative to Earth. As the asteroid approaches Earth, the planet's gravity causes the object to shift back into a larger orbit that takes longer to go around the sun than Earth.

Alternately, as Earth catches up with the asteroid, the planet's gravity causes it to fall into a closer orbit that takes less time to go around the sun than Earth. The asteroid therefore never completely passes our planet. This slingshot-like effect results in a horseshoe-shaped path as seen from Earth, in which 2010 SO16 takes 175 years to get from one end of the horseshoe to the other.

"The origins of this object could prove to be very interesting," said Amy Mainzer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., the principal investigator of NEOWISE, which is the asteroid- and comet-hunting portion of the WISE survey mission.

"We are really excited that the astronomy community is already finding treasures in the NEOWISE data that have been released so far."

NEOWISE finished its one complete sweep of the solar system in early February of this year. Data on the orbits of asteroids and comets detected by the project, including near-Earth objects, are catalogued at the NASA-funded International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
Asteroid and Comet Mission News, Science and Technology



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


IRON AND ICE
WISE Mission Spots Horseshoe Asteroid
London UK (SPX) Apr 11, 2011
An asteroid recently discovered by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) may be a bit of an oddball. Most near-Earth asteroids - NEAs for short - have eccentric, or egg-shaped, orbits that take the asteroids right through the inner solar system. The new object, designated 2010 SO16, is different. Its orbit is almost circular such that it cannot come close to any other planet in ... read more







IRON AND ICE
Economic impact of Japan disaster 'worse than thought'

UN to urge boost to national disaster plans

Japan raises nuclear disaster to Chernobyl level

Fukushima 'not comparable' with Chernobyl: French watchdog

IRON AND ICE
China Maps The World With Beidou

China launches navigation satellite

GPS to protect Bulgarian locomotives from fuel thefts

Make Your Satnav Idea A Reality

IRON AND ICE
Commentary: Coming geopolitical upheaval

French veil ban comes into force

Pacific nations battle obesity epidemic

Elevated Levels Of Sodium Blunt Response To Stress

IRON AND ICE
Penguins That Shun Ice Still Lose Big From A Warming Climate

Bacterial Genome May Hold Answers To Mercury Mystery

Scientists Have New Measure For Species Threat

Third Dimension Of Specific Cell Cultivation

IRON AND ICE
Super bug found in Indian water, seepage

After 30 years, war on AIDS at 'moment of truth'

To Meet, Greet Or Retreat During Influenza Outbreaks

Virus in Chinese ducks could infect humans

IRON AND ICE
China silent on Ai location, condemns foreign support

Most Christians detained in Beijing freed: group

China tells US not to interfere on human rights

China: Stop preaching human rights to us

IRON AND ICE
Spanish navy delivers suspected pirates to Seychelles

Spanish navy arrests 11 suspected Somali pirates

Indian navy captures pirates, rescues crew

Piracy: Calls for tougher action intensify

IRON AND ICE
'Uncertainties' weigh on disaster-hit Japan: IMF

China willing to buy more Spanish debt: Wen

Japan, Mideast unrest hit German confidence

IMF warns of inflation in red-hot Asia


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement