Jupiter is sometimes said to be a failed star, with a mass just a bit too small to fuse elements in its core. This isn’t really an accurate description, since the it takes at least 13 times the mass of Jupiter to initiate fusion. However, when compared to the other planets in the solar system, Jupiter is king. Jupiter is 2.5 times the mass of all the other planets combined.
Never Tell Me the Odds
Just how cluttered with rocks is the asteroid belt? The answer might surprise you.
Super Breakout
Recently an asteroid has been observed while breaking apart. What makes this particularly interesting is that it doesn’t seem to be due to a collision, but rather due to the effects of sunlight.
Dust in the Solar Wind
An unusual new comet has been discovered. Or perhaps it should be called an asteroid. Whatever it is, it has six tails and is called P/2013 P5. It was first observed the end of August this year, but now a new paper in Astrophysical Journal Letters gives the initial results of observations so far.
Rocking Asteroids
There are a lot of rocks in the asteroid belt of our solar system. One of the most current asteroid databases lists the orbital parameters of almost 370,000 asteroids. Most of these orbit at an average distance of about 2 AU to 3.5 AU. (An AU, or astronomical unit, is roughly the distance of the Earth from the Sun).