Vulcanoid asteroid
Vulcanoid asteroids are a special group of asteroids which may orbit close to the Sun, closer than the orbit of the planet Mercury.[1] No vulcanoid has ever been discovered; it is not known if they ever existed. Because they would orbit so close to the Sun they could only be seen during twilight, or a solar eclipse.[2] Their very small size could make them impossible to see. This part of the Solar System is described as being gravitationally stable, and every other similar stable area has asteroids.[3] If they do exist, vulcanoids would be made of material that could help explain the formation of the planets.[4] If they do not exist, then theories about how the planets were formed might have to change.[5] They are called vulcanoids after a planet, Vulcan, which early astronomers thought they had seen close to the Sun.[6]
Vulcanoid Asteroid Media
Total solar eclipses provide an opportunity to search for vulcanoids from the ground.
References
- ↑ Evans, N. Wyn. Possible Long-Lived Asteroid Belts in the Inner Solar System. Nature 399 (6731) (1999). p. 41–43. doi:10.1038/19919.
- ↑ VulcanoidsThe Planetary Society. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ↑ Britt, Robert Roy. Vulcanoid search reaches new heights (2004)Space.com. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ↑ NASA Dryden, Southwest Research Institute Search for Vulcanoids. NASA. 2002. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/NewsReleases/2002/02-20.html. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ↑ Campins, H.. Searching for Vulcanoids. Completing the Inventory of the Solar System, Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Proceedings 107 (1996). p. 85–96.
- ↑ Standage, Tom. The Neptune File (2000). Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Allen Lane, The Penguin Press. p. 144–149. ISBN 0-713-99472-X.
