asteroidal
Like tumbling boulders
Asteroidal means relating to or resembling asteroids—the rocky bodies that orbit the sun, most densely between Mars and Jupiter.
The term appears in astronomy and planetary science: asteroidal debris, asteroidal belt, asteroidal impact.
Something asteroidal may also simply be asteroid-shaped: irregular, cratered, or rocky in appearance.
Small body in space
- cosmosOrderly totality of existence
- vacuumAbsence of matter
- celestialOf the sky above
- cometIcy orbiting body
planetesimal · spacecraft · telescope · Ceres · Vesta · Eros · Psyche · Ida
Goddess of crops and growth
Eros · Eris · naming · Roman · Greek · discovery · classification · numbered
Space debris reaching Earth
- chondriteMeteorite containing round grains
- ironElement twenty-six
- nickelElement twenty-eight, or coin
- regolithFragmented covering over bedrock
silicate · carbonaceous · olivine · pyroxene · feldspar · stony-iron · breccia · differentiated
Path of moving object
- eccentricityUnconventional behavior or nature
- perihelionOrbital point nearest sun
- aphelionFarthest point from sun
- inclinationDisposition toward something
velocity · resonance · Trojan · Kuiper · perturbation · retrograde · prograde · crossing
Impact or volcanic basin
- collisionForceful contact between objects
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- bolideDetonating meteor, very bright
- airburstExplosion in the atmosphere
ejecta · shockwave · devastation · cataclysm · deflection · DART · hazard · apocalyptic
meteoroid
Small body in space
comet · planetesimal · spacecraft · telescope · Ceres · Vesta · Eros · Psyche · Ida · interplanetary
Ceres
Goddess of crops and growth
Psyche · Eros · Eris · naming · Roman · Greek · discovery · classification · numbered · catalogued
meteorite
Space debris reaching Earth
regolith · silicate · carbonaceous · olivine · pyroxene · feldspar · stony-iron · breccia · differentiated · primitive
trajectory
Path of moving object
- eccentricityUnconventional behavior or nature
- perihelionOrbital point nearest sun
- aphelionFarthest point from sun
inclination · velocity · resonance · Trojan · Kuiper · perturbation · retrograde · prograde · crossing · flyby
crater
Impact or volcanic basin
- collisionForceful contact between objects
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- bolideDetonating meteor, very bright
airburst · ejecta · shockwave · devastation · cataclysm · deflection · DART · hazard · apocalyptic · bombardment
probe
Thorough examination or tool
mining · prospecting · spectroscopy · mapping · surveying · lander · orbiter · radar · imaging · spacecraft
- asteroid beltPlanetary rubble orbit zone
- asteroid impactSpace rock collision event
- asteroid miningHarvesting materials from celestial bodies
- mining asteroidsExtracting resources from celestial bodies