Podcaster: Dr. Al Grauer
Title: Travelers in the Night Eps. 569 & 570: Fossil Ice & Catastrophic Wreckage
Organization: Travelers in The Night
Link : Travelers in the Night ; @Nmcanopus
Description: Today’s 2 topics:
- Beyond, what solar system scientists now call the “snow line”, 4.6 billion years ago, crystals of ice formed and were trapped inside accreting chunks of material.
- Richard Kowalski discovered 2,000 foot diameter 2019 UA14 in Eridanus.
Bio: Dr. Al Grauer is currently an observing member of the Catalina Sky Survey Team at the University of Arizona. This group has discovered nearly half of the Earth approaching objects known to exist. He received a PhD in Physics in 1971 and has been an observational Astronomer for 43 years. He retired as a University Professor after 39 years of interacting with students. He has conducted research projects using telescopes in Arizona, Chile, Australia, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Georgia with funding from NSF and NASA.
He is noted as Co-discoverer of comet P/2010 TO20 Linear-Grauer, Discoverer of comet C/2009 U5 Grauer and has asteroid 18871 Grauer named for him.
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Transcript:
569: Fossil Ice
Near our infant Sun, in the disk of material that was to become our solar system, it was too hot for ice or liquid water to exist. Further away, beyond, what solar system scientists now call the “snow line” , 4.6 billion years ago, crystals of ice formed and were trapped inside accreting chunks of material.
As the planets condensed and were heated by gravitational forces, Earth lost its water into interplanetary space. On the other hand asteroids which formed far from our infant Sun retained trapped ice particles in their structure. When this ice melted, the water combined chemically with the surrounding material to form water rich minerals and in the process left behind tiny microscopic holes known as fossil ice.
The first direct evidence of this activity was recently observed in the structure of a 4.6 Billion year meteorite, Acfer 094, found in Algeria in 1990. It is very likely that the glass of water you enjoy today was brought to you by an asteroid impact which delivered water rich minerals to the young Earth long ago. Recent findings, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research suggests that there is more water locked in the minerals of nearby asteroids, which are easier to reach than the Moon, than could be found in ice deposits near the lunar poles.
This asteroidal water combined with solar energy could provide space colonists with water to drink, air to breathe, and hydrogen and oxygen to fuel their rockets.
570: Catastrophic Wreckage
My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Richard Kowalski was asteroid hunting with our 60 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon, Arizona when he spotted a fast moving point of light traveling through the constellation of Eradanus [A rid dan us]. Additional observations by telescopes in Arizona and Hawaii allowed scientists at the Minor Planet Center to calculate the new object’s amazing 7.3 year long orbit about the Sun and give it the name 2019 UA14.
Richard’s discovery, is a 2,000 foot diameter asteroid which has an orbit which is inclined by 72 degrees relative to the plane of the solar system which contains all of the planets and most of the other asteroids. Millions of years ago two large asteroids collided in the asteroid belt. Pieces were sent flying in all directions. A few of them like Richard’s discovery were put into orbits which rise high above and below the plane of the solar system as they continued to travel around the Sun.
Astronomers who have studied these high inclination asteroids find they have a higher cohesive force holding them together than asteroids with more normal orbits. Fortunately Richard’s discovery, 2019 UA14, on its current path never comes very close to Earth. Recently another group of high inclination asteroids hiding in Jupiter’s shadow have been identified. Encounters with the giant planet’s gravity could cause some of them to experience orbital changes making them a threat to Earth. Stay tuned.
For Travelers in the Night this is Dr. Al Grauer.
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365 Days of Astronomy
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