Yusrah Seddiki March
28, 2014
Earth Science 10h Current Event
ATERIOD
FOUND WITH RINGS!
"Asteroid Found with Rings!
First-of-Its-Kind Discovery Stuns Astronomers (Video, Images)." Space.com.
N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
The article I chose, by Nola Taylor Redd, talk about a stunning
discovery made by scientists in the outer realm of the solar system. They established
an asteroid with its own set of rings that orbits the sun between Saturn and
Uranus. According to researchers, this is the first non-planetary space rock object
ever to have its own ring system. The name of the asteroid with rings is
Chariklo. Chariklo is the largest of the centaurs, several bodies in the outer
solar system whose orbits cross — and are changed by — the outer planets.
Agreeing to a new study unveiled today, March 27.2014, its rings were most likely
formed after a collision’s scattered debris. The collision that likely created
Chariklo's rings would have had to have been a slow-moving impact. These rings
also propose the presence of a still till-undiscovered moon around Chariklo.
From the surface of the asteroid, "they would be two spectacular
sharp and really bright rings, crossing all the sky," Braga-Ribas said.
Matching the data assembled from seven different telescopes, the
team was able to classify the shape, size and placement of Chariklo’s rings. It
comprises of a dense, 4-mile-wide (7 km) ring near the planet, and a smaller
2-mile-wide (3 km) ring farther out. The rings are related to those around
Saturn, both are very dense, bright and possibly formed by rock and water ice. Yet,
their scales differ from one another. "The whole Chariklo system would fit
about 12 times in the Cassini Division," Braga-Ribas said, referring to
the largest gap in Saturn's rings.
On a wider scale, this rigid asteroid can help scientists to understand
more about galaxies. Asteroids have little impact on the current earth. It is
believed that planet level extinction events were caused by asteroid or comet
impacts. Astronomers are observing this asteroid with seven telescopes; two in Chile
and the rest in South America. This asteroid orbits the sun beyond Saturn. Some
predictions had shown that Chariklo will pass in front of a faint star, as seen
from South America in June 2013. This may allow astronomers observe the stars
brightness drop. Observations conclude that Chariklo’s rings are very narrow. It
is unbelievable for scientists to see small bodies like Chariklo can maintain their
own ring system.
Reading this article, I think it was very well written. It answered
approximately all possible questions one can have on this topic. I thought this
article was well detailed and went in depth with certain points. I liked how
the author compared the asteroid Charklo to other planets in the solar system. I
think the author could have connected this asteroid to earth, stating whether
it can ever affect earth in a way or if it can have an effect on our solar
system, or even if the rings can have an effect on the asteroid itself. Other than
that, I consider this article to be very interesting and informational.
This was a very interesting topic to read about. I enjoyed learning about what else could possibly be in our solar system and what is possibly orbiting around the sun. The aspects that were well presented was the topic you chose. This is very interesting for someone to read about, it was not long and wordy at all, it was just the right amount of information from the topic. Another part that was good was the summary, and it really shows that you took your time to read the article, and that you read it very well so you could understand it. Also, i liked the last paragraph because you gave your honest opinion and described the article well for the reader.
ReplyDeleteI was really impressed with the technology that can be used to spot an asteroid in the solar system with a set of rings around it, and that they picked up the same asteroid from different locations in the world. I was also impressed with how much information a piece in space can give off, because it could help scientists learn more about the galaxies they are studying.
I think one thing that could be improved in this review were a couple of the sentences. A few of them were a little bit short, and it made the article sound choppy. But otherwise it was a very interesting read and i hope to read your next blog!
I enjoyed reading about this article for a number of reasons. First, the overall idea about an asteroid being able to have its own ring system is quite incredible. Also, I think that the article was nicely chosen because this is a topic that we have recently been working on. With that being said, the article was summarized well and was interesting to read and easy to follow too. I enjoyed learned new ideas to add to the mystery of space! If I had one improvement, I would have introduced Braga-Ribas a little bit more formally but otherwise this was a wonderful blog to read.
ReplyDeleteI thought that your paragraph was overall cohesive and that it had a nice flow to it. Also, I thought you chose an interesting topic, as such makes the reader far more interested in reading whatever it is that you have to say. I choosing a topic that concerns elements of space that we had no prior knowledge of definitely captured my attention and now makes me very intrigued to learn any followup information concerning any new discoveries. I also found it very interesting how you compared the entire Charklo system to be 1/12 of the largest gap between Saturnian rings, as I found that this data gave me a better idea of the scale of the asteroid system at hand. I was very interested to learn that there even was an asteroid with its own set of rings in existence. Before, I only associated rings with giant planets, such as Saturn and possibly Neptune. To me, the ability to have rings was slightly dependent upon the size of the spacial body itself, although this inculcation had not been proved. Having learned of such a small body with its own rings, I can now rethink some of my prior suspicions that I had not looked into. Also, I was very interested to know just how the rings themselves formed. I liked how you mentioned the similarity between these rings and those of Saturn, and found the comparison compelling, but I would have liked to have learned more exactly about the formation of rings, as the idea itself alludes me. Overall, I think you did a good job of creating a concise paragraph that wasn't overly-complicated, as such sometimes takes away from the enjoyment of the information at hand. However, I would have liked to learn more details about how this spacial object was found, its dimensions, and the formation of the rings, and methods by which astronomers discovered the object's properties.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a really good job on your article! I think you did a good job writing all the details without making it sound to wordy or confusing. The article overall had a good flow to it and I easily learned a lot of new information. Also I think the topic that you picked was extremely interesting and has a lot to do with what we are learning. Also you did a good job summarizing the article. It really showed that you knew what the article was about. I learned many new things from this article. I had no idea that an asteroid could have rings. I found this very interesting. I thought planets could only have rings. Also I had no idea that scientist could see something as small as Chariklo. Its amazing what we are able to see in space. However, I would have liked to have known where this asteroid came from and why it has these rings and where they came from. Overall, you did an amazing job!
ReplyDeleteHi Yusrah, since you did not submit your report on "Turnitin," I am going to leave my feedback to you HERE!
ReplyDeleteThis was indeed a very interesting article, as noted by those who commented on your report. Like Alessandra, I too, had assumed that only giant planets could support ring systems. I was shocked to learn that dwarf planet could have rings! I enjoyed reading the report and the article, and I watched the video and took the asteroid quiz that went with it. (I got an 80%, can any of my students beat me?) This was, as you said, an excellent article that was fully informative and appropriate length.
Two details I wish you had included in your summary; I wish you had explained HOW they discovered it had rings. I was a little confused because in your report you alluded to it by saying, " Some predictions had shown that Chariklo will pass in front of a faint star, as seen from South America in June 2013. This may allow astronomers observe the stars brightness drop." But in fact this DID happen in June 2013, and that is HOW they discovered the rings! It would have been helpful if you had explained for your readers what an occultation is, and how this allowed scientists to discover the rings. Skipping over this critical part of the article makes me think you weren't reading it closely enough.
Another interesting aspect of the article was the discussion of shepherd moons, and how these rings shouldn't be sustainable, based on our current understanding of gravity. Either the rings are very young, or there is a shepherd moon keeping them in orbit. I thought this was significant enough that it should have been included in your summary.
Also, not to get nit-picky, but Chile is in South America. You might want to rephrase the sentence referring to where the seven telescopes are.
Finally, your opening sentence was a bit dull. I read so many of these current event reports and every time one opens with "The article I chose..." I roll my eyes a bit. This topic is so fascinating, could you think of a more exciting way to pull in your readers?
Overall, this was a decent report on a great article. Next time please submit it on "Turnitin," so I can keep the feedback private! Thank you.