490 Veritas facts for kids
490 Veritas
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Name | Veritas |
| Designation | 1902 JP |
| Discovery | |
| Discoverer | Max Wolf |
| Discovery date | September 3, 1902 |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg |
| Orbital elements | |
| Epoch August 18, 2005 (JDCT 2453600.5) | |
| Eccentricity (e) | 0.099 |
| Semimajor axis (a) | 3.170 AU |
| Perihelion (q) | 2.856 AU |
| Aphelion (Q) | 3.483 AU |
| Orbital period (P) | 5.643 a |
| Inclination (i) | 9.264° |
| Longitude of the ascending node (Ω) | 178.513° |
| Argument of Perihelion (ω) | 196.985° |
| Mean anomaly (M) | 50.159° |
490 Veritas is a large asteroid that orbits the Sun in our Solar System. It's famous because scientists think it was part of a huge crash between asteroids millions of years ago!
Contents
What is 490 Veritas?
490 Veritas is one of the biggest asteroids in a group called the Veritas family. This family has about 300 asteroids. Veritas itself is very large, measuring between 115 and 125 kilometers across. To give you an idea, that's like driving from one big city to another! Another large asteroid in this family is called 92 Undina.
A Giant Space Crash!
Scientists believe that 490 Veritas and the other asteroids in its family were formed from a massive collision. About 8 million years ago, a very large asteroid, at least 150 kilometers wide, crashed into a smaller one. This huge impact broke the asteroids into many pieces. 490 Veritas and 92 Undina are thought to be the largest parts that survived this crash.
How Scientists Figured It Out
A scientist named David Nesvorný studied the paths of these asteroids. He used computers to trace their orbits backwards in time. This helped him calculate when and how they might have formed from such a big collision. It's like being a space detective!
Dust from Space
You might wonder if such a big crash could send pieces towards Earth. Luckily, the Veritas collision happened too far from Jupiter. Jupiter's strong gravity could have pulled the pieces into a path towards our planet.
However, the crash did create a lot of dust. This tiny space dust is affected by solar radiation. Over millions of years, this radiation gently pushed the dust closer to Earth. Scientists have found evidence of this dust in ocean sediments on Earth. This matches the time when the Veritas collision happened.
Dust Still Coming
Even today, smaller collisions keep happening among the Veritas-family asteroids. These ongoing crashes send more cosmic dust towards Earth. Scientists estimate that about 5,000 tons of this space dust reaches Earth every year. This makes up about 15% of all the cosmic dust that falls on our planet annually!
How 490 Veritas Was Found
The asteroid 490 Veritas was discovered a long time ago. It was first seen by a famous astronomer named Max Wolf. He found it in the year 1902. When it was first discovered, it was given a temporary name: 1902 JP. Later, it was officially named 490 Veritas.
See also
In Spanish: (490) Veritas para niños
