Since 1980 over a half million asteroids have been discovered, mostly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
"Earth Crossers are Red
Earth Approachers (Perihelion less than 1.3AU) are Yellow
All Others are Green
Notice now the pattern of discovery follows the Earth around its orbit, most discoveries are made in the region directly opposite the Sun. You'll also notice some clusters of discoveries on the line between Earth and Jupiter, these are the result of surveys looking for Jovian moons. Similar clusters of discoveries can be tied to the other outer planets, but those are not visible in this video.
As the video moves into the mid 1990's we see much higher discovery rates as automated sky scanning systems come online. Most of the surveys are imaging the sky directly opposite the sun and you'll see a region of high discovery rates aligned in this manner.
At the beginning of 2010 a new discovery pattern becomes evident, with discovery zones in a line perpendicular to the Sun-Earth vector. These new observations are the result of the WISE (Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer) which is a space mission that's tasked with imaging the entire sky in infrared wavelengths.
Currently we have observed over half a million minor planets, and the discovery rates snow no sign that we're running out of undiscovered objects."
11 Comments
shuacsays...Crimminy!
Fletchsays...Damn, Asteroid Belt! You scary!
Hybridsays...*quality *animation
siftbotsays...Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by Hybrid.
Adding video to channels (Animation) - requested by Hybrid.
kceaton1says...Anybody know what the ambient music in the background is? I've looked at the main post on youtube and there is no mention.
Hybridsays...The *music is 'Transgenic' by Trifonic (http://www.amazon.com/Emergence-Trifonic/dp/B0013MTJUQ/)>> ^kceaton1:
Anybody know what the ambient music in the background is? I've looked at the main post on youtube and there is no mention.
siftbotsays...Adding video to channels (Music) - requested by Hybrid.
jwraysays...That's some "stellar" music
*quality
siftbotsays...This video has already declared quality - ignoring quality request by jwray.
Sagemindsays...Sorry, I can't upvote - without the text description, the video in itself is boring and doesn't mean anything - and since we are upvoting videos here...
chtiernasays...First of all, this is the first apology for not upvoting that I've seen. You even have the right to downvote if you think this video doesn't belong on the Sift, and you would be within your rights to do so.
That being said.... LOOK AT THE AMAZING SWIRLING DOTS! OMG THEY ARE SO AMAZING! YOU... CANT... RESIST... UPVOTING...
>> ^Sagemind:
Sorry, I can't upvote - without the text description, the video in itself is boring and doesn't mean anything - and since we are upvoting videos here...
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