VOCAB: Unit 4 Flashcards
Betyls
What the Greeks and Romans called meteorites
Kaaba Stone
A large meteorites that the Muslims used to pay homage
Father of Meteoritics
Ernst Chianti, who published a book about what he knew about meteorites
Ceres
Was an asteroid, but has now been classified as a dwarf planet
Asteroid
A natural rocky object in space measuring 100m to several hundred km in diameter
Meteoroid
A natural rocky object in space measuring from a few mm to 100m in diameter
Meteor
NOT the object, only the light phenomenon. The streak of light associated w/passage of a SMALL meteoroid
Fireball
Light associated w/ a LARGE meteoroid or asteroid as it interacts w/ the atmosphere
Meteorite
A fragment of either a meteoroid or asteroid that lands on earth’s surface, its NOT a meteorite until it lands on a surface!!
Main Asteroid Belt
The gap between Mars and Jupiter
Potentially Hazardous Asteroids**
Some asteroids that are not in the Main Belt and can be dangerous. Are a minimum of 150m and comes closer than 0.05 AU to Earth
Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research
A telescope built in Mexico, an electro-optical detector w/ a charge coupled device
Kirkwood Gaps**
These gaps corresponded to simple fractions of the orbital period of Jupiter, within gaps gravitational perturbation is STRONG
Albedo
The proportion of the light reflected from an object, range is 0 = black to 1 = perfectly reflecting the object
Spectrometers
Used to break down the reflected light in a whole spectrum, tells us which minerals are reflecting the light
C-Type Asteroids
These are high in CARBON, takes up 75% of the known asteroids. Its similar in composition to the Sun
S-Type Asteroids
These are high in SILICON, takes up 17% of the known asteroids.
M-Type Asteroids
Theses are METALLIC (metals), and takes up the remaining known asteroids.
Carbonaceous Asteroids
They have dark carbon-rich minerals on their surfaces
E-Type Asteroids
Have enstatite and have the highest albedo!
4 Vesta
Brightest in the sky
Asteroid Family**
The breakup of an asteroid into a collection of fragments, resulting in similar orbital characteristics
Hirayama Families
What they asteroid families are now referred to, basis of similar proper orbital features, hirayama was able to recognize clusters of asteroids
Near Earth Asteroids
Subdivisions of asteroids that aren’t in the belt, which are then divided into categories by the dimensions of their orbits
Atens**
Asteroids that have orbits less than 1 AU, meaning most of the time they are within the orbit of Earth
Apollos**
Most of these asteroids have an orbit that brings them through the orbit of Earth
Amors**
These asteroids commonly cross the orbit of Mars and get close to Earth’s but doesn’t actually cross it
Trojan Asteroids**
Trapped chunks of debris, named after the heroes of Trojan
Apophis
An asteroids previously listed as a 4, but reduced to 0 on the Torino Scale.
Finds
More or less stumble across it and you have no information of when it got there
Falls
A meteorite whose entry thought the atmosphere has been witnessed, and someone has recovered a piece of the object
Irons
Consist almost entirely of iron + nickel metal alloys (6%)
Stony-Irons
Nearly 50-50 mix of the same metal alloys and non-metallic silicate/oxide material that looks like ordinary stone (1%)
Stones
Almost entirely the latter material (97%), Make up about 93% of all known meteorites
Chondrites
Considered aggregates of ‘cosmic sediment’ that haven’t been altered nor melted greatly since first compressed together
Achondrites
Are igneous rocks that have been at least partially melted and recrystallized
Accretion
Process of clumping together of the various product appearing in chondrites
Primitive Achondrite
If the fragment is a chunks of the residual product
Ablation
Erosion process by removing small masses
Inertia
Body’s resistance to a change in its motion
Momentum
A product of the body’s mass, amount of material it contains, and its speed or velocity
Kinetic Energy
Involved the body’s mass and velocity, but increases exponentially w/velocity. Greater a meteoroid’s mass and velocity, the greater the kinetic energy
Regmaglypts
Surfaces of some meteorites are marked w/depressions resembling thumbprints that form by ablation, probably as the meteoroid rocks back and forth or tumbles so there’s selective melting
Fusion Crust
Any melting at all will produce this on the object
Chondrule
The small rounded inclusions in chondrites
