Stars of Wonder: An Asteroid passed by

( If this is your first time on this blog, please look over on the right. There is a list of my older posts. Please start at the beginning (February 5) for my "Welcome Page" -- where it will tell you how to get a Star Map -- so you can start finding constellations. {:-)

I put a lot of information on this page for those of you who want to research about this; but for those who don't want to learn that much about it --- you might just enjoy the 2 links so you can see the ASTEROID, and the METEORITE. There is a third link by NASA about what they have learned about the meteorite since then.

News
On Friday, Feb. 15, an Asteroid passed by us.
It was 150 yards long, which is half the size of a football field (300 yds.)
Asteroids are much like comets, except they don't contain gases that glow when they get near the Sun, like comets do---so they don't make tails. Also, many asteroids come from the Asteroid Belt---which is a huge circle of giant boulders that encircle an area between Mars and Jupiter. They have their own orbit which they follow, just as Mars and Earth do. There are about 750,000 asteroids in the Asteroid Belt, and millions more just out there orbiting our Sun. Some are almost 600 miles long.

Credit: Google images

Some times asteroids bump into each other, which changes their orbits---and they can then fly in a different direction. That is probably what happened to the asteroid that passed by us this week.

Comets, on the other hand, don't come from the Asteroid Belt. They come from way out in space---past the orbit of Pluto. And, they seem to come into our Solar System for one purpose---and that is to go around the Sun; and then they travel back out into far-away space. Some of them come back every few years; and some are never seen again. Their tails aways face away from the Sun.

Credit: 2005 Pearson Education, Inc.

But, side by side, asteroids and comets can look very much alike.
Here is a video of the asteroid that passed us last Friday: Asteroid link

On the same day, an unexpected Meteorite hit Russia.

A meteor is an asteroid or other natural space object (not man-made) that burns up and vaporizes upon entry into the Earth's atmosphere; commonly known as "shooting stars." If a meteor makes it to the surface, it's known as a meteorite.

The one that hit Russia a few weeks ago, exploded in the air before the biggest part hit the ground. The explosion sent shock waves through the air, and 1,000's of windows were blown out of buildings because of it; and parts of several buildings collapsed. Many people (at least 1,200 people) were cut because of the flying glass. Others were knocked over and hurt. Many are still hospitalized. Before the explosions from the shock waves hit, there was a huge, prolonged flash of light--called a "fire ball." Pictures of it's light were captured from many dash-cams and security cameras. It took several minutes for the shock waves to travel through the air and reach the town. They say that it's explosion was equal to 20 times the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in the 1940's. There are many small pieces of the meteorite that have been found on the ground since then. Many people are looking for them, because they are very valuable. One link that I read said that some pieces are as valuable as gold.
Here is a video of that Meteorite and the flash from it's explosion--from several different cameras: Meteorite link

Thousands of small pieces have fallen in a 60+ mile radius of where it exploded in the sky. Large pieces have yet to be found . . .