Herschel, who first named them, saw that there were these dots of light moving across the sky. He described them as star-like, asteroid, Latin for star, is like. So, they're nothing like stars, but to an optical telescope, it's just a star that's moving. That's the origin of the word asteroid. With radar, we are observing near-Earth asteroids - about at least several hundred meters in size. We can see something that is six feet in size. It is that level of detail.
Neil has his own asteroid?! On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Marcia Belsky answer fan questions about different types of asteroids with Marina Brozovic, orbital dynamicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/cosmic-queries-asteroid-hunters-with-marina-brozovic/
Thanks to our Patrons Deborah Carson Weekly, Kesha Nevins, Heather Peartree, Mikolas82, and Kayla Nickel for supporting us this week.
Photo Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to new episodes ad-free and a whole week early.