Something out there's throwing rocks at us: Jupiter's gravity can send asteroids hurtling toward our planet
Article Abstract:
Some asteroids, known as near-Earth objects (NEOs), have orbits that cross the Earth's path and have a million to one chance of colliding with our planet. A 15 million-megaton explosion could be caused by a 10 kilometer body. Astronomers have located about 100 of a probable 1,000 NEOs which should have disappeared into the inner planets millions of years ago. Jupiter's gravity can move asteroids from their places and send them into orbit. Some NEOs are comets. There have been some near misses as in January 1991 when an object about 10 meters in diameter passed by 160,000 kilometers away. NASA proposes a space probe fitted with a nuclear warhead as an early warning system. Detonating the warhead would alter the asteroid's course to avoid collision.
Publication Name: The Independent
Subject: Retail industry
ISSN: 0951-9467
Year: 1992
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Can there be life on Mars?
Article Abstract:
Nasa is planning missions to collect pieces of Martian rock to test the theory that microscopic organisms may be present on Mars. Some observers believe that primeval living cells may have migrated deep underground as Mars cooled and may now be multiplying in microscopic cracks deep under the planet's surface. However, unmanned spacecraft cannot obtain samples from deep under the surface. Some scientists feel that future probes should focus on the oldest regions of Mars, where fossils have the best chance of having been preserved through later geological developments.
Publication Name: The Independent
Subject: Retail industry
ISSN: 0951-9467
Year: 1999
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Brown dwarfs, hot Jupiters or something completely different?
Article Abstract:
Astronomers have discovered hot Jupiters, a new type of planet which are so near to Jupiter that they are red hot. When the first one, 51 Pegasi, was found, it was believed that there might be just one, but another three have been discovered, and it seems they are not uncommon. The discovery has caused some confusion. It appears that they were created further away from the main planets and moved closer. Bodies which orbit the stars include brown dwarfs, which are created from gas disintegrating under its own weight.
Publication Name: The Independent
Subject: Retail industry
ISSN: 0951-9467
Year: 1996
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