Centaurs

Location: Centaurs are primarily found in the outer regions of the solar system, typically in the vicinity of the giant planets like Jupiter and Neptune. They often have eccentric and inclined orbits, which means they don't follow the relatively flat and circular orbits of the major planets.

Composition: Centaurs are thought to be composed of a mixture of volatile ices (such as water ice, carbon dioxide, and methane) and rocky material. This composition is similar to that of comets, which have a significant amount of volatile material that can sublimate (turn from solid directly into gas) when they approach the Sun.

Activity: Like comets, some Centaurs exhibit cometary activity when they approach the Sun. This activity can include the development of a coma (a cloud of gas and dust) and the formation of a tail. This behavior is due to the sublimation of volatile ices on the Centaur's surface as it gets closer to the Sun.

Origin: Centaurs are believed to be remnants from the early solar system, and some scientists think they may have originated in the Kuiper Belt or the scattered disk, both of which are regions beyond Neptune that are populated with icy objects.

Classification: Centaurs are classified as a type of minor planet, and they are distinct from both asteroids (which are primarily composed of rocky or metallic material) and traditional comets (which typically have more pronounced comas and tails).

Names: Centaurs are named after the mythological creatures known as centaurs from Greek mythology. They are given both a designation, usually a combination of letters and numbers, and a formal name based on mythology or other appropriate themes.

In this episode of Sapiens Planet explore the universe with voyager mission.

NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft unfurled its robotic arm Tuesday, and in a first for the agency, briefly touched an asteroid to collect dust and pebbles from the surface for delivery to Earth in 2023.

This well-preserved, ancient asteroid, known as Bennu, is currently more than 200 million miles (321 million kilometers) from Earth. Bennu offers scientists a window into the early solar system as it was first taking shape billions of years ago and flinging ingredients that could have helped seed life on Earth. If Tuesday’s sample collection event, known as “Touch-And-Go” (TAG), provided enough of a sample, mission teams will command the spacecraft to begin stowing the precious primordial cargo to begin its journey back to Earth in March 2021. Otherwise, they will prepare for another attempt in January.

*NASA

One of the most intriguing targets in the main asteroid belt, 16 Psyche is a giant metal asteroid, about three times farther away from the sun than is the Earth. Its average diameter is about 140 miles (226 kilometers) — about one-sixteenth the diameter of Earth’s Moon or about the distance between Los Angeles and San Diego. Unlike most other asteroids that are rocky or icy bodies, scientists think the M-type (metallic) asteroid 16 Psyche is comprised mostly of metallic iron and nickel similar to Earth’s core. Scientists wonder whether Psyche could be an exposed core of an early planet, maybe as large as Mars, that lost its rocky outer layers due to a number of violent collisions billions of years ago.

Possible sign of life on Venus.

Pallas, third largest asteroid in the asteroid belt and the second such object to be discovered, by the German astronomer and physician Wilhelm Olbers on March 28, 1802, following the discovery of Ceres the year before. It is named after Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.

Vesta is the second most massive body in the main asteroid belt, accounting for almost nine percent of the total mass of all asteroids. Only dwarf planet Ceres is more massive in that region of rocky debris between Mars and Jupiter. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft circled Vesta from July 16, 2011 until Sept. 5, 2012, when it departed and began its journey to dwarf planet Ceres.

Asteroid Ceres

Ceres is the largest object in the main asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Ceres was found by an astronomer searching for a star. He thought he found a comet, but with the help of other astronomers decided it was a planet.

Ceres takes 1,682 Earth days, or 4.6 Earth years, to make one trip around the sun.

Ceres completes one rotation around its axis every 9 hours.

Ceres is so much bigger and so different from its neighbors that scientists classified it as a dwarf planet in 2006.

Scientists would like to search for possible signs of life on Ceres. It has something many other planets don't.

Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the sun. Although asteroids orbit the sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets. In this season we are going to explore asteroids.