Asteroids - Asteroids Asteroids is a popular vector-based video arcade game released in 1979 by Atari. The object of the game is for the player to shoot and destroy asteroids without being hit by the fragments. The game was conceived by Lyle Rains and programmed by Ed Logg. Asteroids was a hit in the United States and became one of Atari's best selling games of all time. It was so popular that video arcade owners usually had to install new larger coin boxes to hold all the tokens this machine raked in. One of the innovative features of the game was the ability for players to record their initials with their high scores, an innovation which is standard feature for arcade games to this day. A game resembling.
List of asteroids in our Solar System - List of asteroids in our Solar System The following is a list of asteroids in our Solar System. For more specific details about any specific asteroid, please go to that asteroid's article by selecting its name from the table below. The first table below currently lists the eighteen largest known asteroids whose orbit is nearer to the Sun than that of Jupiter. The second table provides information about smaller asteroids of note. In the tables below, "Number" refers to an asteroid's classification number--each asteroid, when discovered, is given a unique identifying number. Largest Known Asteroids within Jupiter's Orbit Number Name Diameter (km) Mean Distance from Sun (in AU) Date Discovered Discoverer 1 Ceres 1003 2.766 January 1 1801 Piazzi, G 2 Pallas 608 2.773 March 28 1802.
Vectrex - also add some color and static images. At the time many of the most popular arcade games used vector displays, and GCE was looking to set themselves apart from the pack by selling high-quality versions of games like Asteroids, Space Wars, and Armor Attack. Technical specifications CPU : Motorola 68A09 @ 1.6MHz CRT : Samsung 240RB40 B&W Vector RAM: 1KB×4-bit 2114 (two) ROM: 8KB×8-bit 2363 Sound: General Instrument AY-3-8912 List of game titles 3D Crazy Coaster 3D Minestorm 3D Narrow Escape AnimAction Armor Attack Art Master Bedlam Berzerk Blitz! Action Football Clean Sweep Cosmic Chasm Cube Quest Flipper Pinball Fortress of Narzod Heads Up Action Soccer Hyperchase Auto Race Melody Master Mine Storm Polar Rescue Pole Position Rip Off Scramble Soccer Football Solar Quest Space Wars Spike Spinball Star Castle Star Ship Star.
Kitt Peak National Observatory - observatories - Kitt Peak National Observatory, the National Solar Observatory facilities at Kitt Peak and Sacramento Peak, New Mexico, and the Cerro Tololo Observatory in Chile. The principal instruments at the KPNO are the Mayall 4 metre telescope; the WIYN 3.5 metre telescope and further 2.1 m, 1.3 m, 0.9 m, and 0.4 m reflecting telescopes. The Kitt Peak is also famous for hosting the first telescope (an old 91 cm reflector) used to search for near-Earth asteroids, and calculating the probability of an impact with our planet. Overview of some of the telescopes at the Kitt Peak National Observatory.
Kirkwood gap - Kirkwood gap If we classify the asteroids according to their periods, the resulting histogram shows clearly that the distribution is not random, but saw-toothed. See figure. The distribution shows also some spikes. Gaps and spikes correspond to periods that are simple divisors of simple multiples of Jupiter's period. As for instance, it is clear in the figure that there are very few asteroids with semimajor axis 2.5 A.U, period 4 years, which is one-third of the orbital period of Jupiter. Gaps were thought by Kirkwood to be caused by orbital resonances, i.e., by the gravitational perturbations from Jupiter. In other words, the idea is that if an asteroid happens to orbit three times around the Sun in the time it takes for Jupiter to orbit once, then the asteroid gets tugged.
Kuiper belt - discovered in 2002, is half the size of Pluto and is larger than the largest asteroid 1 Ceres. Other known KBOs are progressively smaller. The exact classification of these objects is unclear, since they are probably fairly different from the asteroids of the inner solar system. Most KBOs are lumps of ice with some organic (carbon-containing) material, detected using spectroscopy. They are of the same composition as comets and many astronomers believe them to be just comets. The distinction between comet and asteroid is not yet clear and there is a substantial uncertainty, inhabited by such objects as 2060 Chiron. Computer simulations show the Kuiper belt to have been formed by the work of Jupiter, the young Jupiter having used its considerable gravity to eject smaller bodies which didn't all escape completely,.
Johann Franz Encke - was identified as the origin of the Taurids meteor showers. The importance of the predicted return based on the calculation by Encke was rewarded by the Astronomical Society in London by presenting the gold medal to him in 1823. In this year Encke married Amalie Becker (1787-1879), daughter of a bookseller. They had three sons and two daughters. Eight masterly treatises on its movements were published by him in the Berlin Abhandlungen (1829-1859). From a fresh discussion of the transitss of Venus in 1761 and 1769 he deduced (1822-1824) a solar parallax of 8.57 arcsecond, long accepted as authoritative. In 1822 he became director of the Seeberg observatory, and in 1825 was promoted to a corresponding position at Berlin, where a new observatory, built under his superintendence and with the support.
Jupiter (planet) - body that broke up into the existing moons of each group. In addition to the 16 moons listed below there are a further 42 tiny moons in long, eccentric, retrograde orbits around Jupiter, most no larger than a kilometer or two in diameter. All of these moons are thought to be captured asteroidal or perhaps cometary bodies, possibly fragmented into several pieces, but very little is actually known about them. The total number of known moons of Jupiter is therefore 52, currently the most of any planet in the solar system. Many additional tiny moons may exist that have not yet been discovered. On April 4, 2003, the official moon count for Jupiter jumped to 58. The latest discoveries were made by a team led by Scott Sheppard and David Jewitt.
Icarus - was the son of Daedalus 1566 Icarus, one of the Apollo asteroids Icarus is a Scientific journal focusing on studies of the Solar System This is a disambiguation page; that is, one that just points to other pages that might otherwise have the same name. If you followed a link here, you might want to go back and fix that link to point to the appropriate specific page..
Impact event - events are caused by the collision of large meteoroids, asteroids or comets with Earth and may sometimes be followed by mass extinctions of life. For discussion of impacts in general, not just on Earth, see crater. Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide") 1 The geology of Earth impacts 2 Mass extinctions and impacts 3 Recent pre-historic impact events 4 Modern impact events 5.
International Astronomical Union - member of the International Council of Science (ICSU). It is the recognised authority for the naming of stars, planets, asteroids and other celestial bodies and phenomena. Working groups include: WGPSN: Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature See also: Planetary nomenclature.
Galileo probe - after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. New safety protocols that were implemented as a result of the explosion forced Galileo to use a lower-powered upper stage booster rocket to send it from Earth orbit to Jupiter; several additional gravitational slingshots (once by Venus and twice by Earth) were required in order to give it enough velocity to reach its target. Along the way, Galileo performed close observation of the asteroids 951 Gaspra (October 29, 1991) and 243 Ida, and discovered Ida's moon Dactyl. In 1994, Galileo was perfectly positioned to watch the fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crash into Jupiter. Earth-based telescopes had to wait to see the impact sites as they rotated into view. Galileo's prime mission was a two-year study of the Jovian system. Galileo traveled around Jupiter in.
Giuseppe Piazzi - a comet but more like a small planet. It was also almost exactly where the Titius-Bode law predicted a planet would be. Piazzi named it Ceres Ferdinandea, after the Classical Greek and Sicilian goddess of grain and King Ferdinand IV of Naples and Sicily (The Ferdinandea part was later dropped for political reasons). Ceres turned out to be the first, and largest, of the asteroids existing with the Asteroid Belt..
Universal Century - combat ensues aboard the Ahgama. Taskforce Alpha's FAZZ team is annihilated in the battle over Ayers City. The New Desides occupy a mass driver base. ;UC 0088.04.02 Ayers City surrenders. The New Desides escape using a mass catcher and link up with Neo Zeon's Twanning fleet. ;UC 0088.04.04 The New Desides take control of the low Earth orbit relay station Penta. ;UC 0088.04.05 Taskforce Alpha's mission is completed. ;UC 0088.04.12 The Ahgama departs La Vie En Rose. A test firing of its newly-installed hyper mega particle cannon is performed upon an abandoned colony. ;UC 0088.04.29 Judau infiltrates the asteroid Axis, and returns accompanied by Beecha and Mondo. ;UC 0088.05.08 Judau again enters the asteroid Axis. Along with the ZZ, he surrenders to the Sandora. The ZZ battles the Qubeley in Axis's.
Earth - but can vary territorial sea: 12 NM claimed by most, but can vary Note: boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe Climate Two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates. Precipitation patterns vary widely, ranging from several meters of.
Echinoderm - lower Cambrian period and represents about 7000 living species and 13000 extinct ones. 6 classes made it to the Modern Era: Asteroidea (asteroids / starfish): 1,500 species that capture prey for their own food. Concentricycloidea (sea daisies), have a unique water vascular system. Crinoidea (crinoids / feather stars): 600 species that are suspension feeders. Echinoidea (echinoids / sea urchins): 1,000 species; members of that class have movable spines Holothuroidea (sea cucumbers): 1,000 species, elongated sluggish animals. Ophuiroidea (brittle stars and basket stars), the largest class of echinoderms Fossil forms included Blastoids, Edrioasteroids and several peculiar Early Cambrian animals such as Helioplacus, Carpoids, Homalozoa and possibly Machaerids. They evolved from bilaterally symmetric creatures. Later forms were lopsided. Echinoderms' larvae are ciliated free-swimming organisms that organize in a bilaterally symmetric fashion that makes.
Uranus (planet) - named after characters from Shakespeare or Alexander Pope. The flyby of the Voyager 2 space probe in January of 1986 led to the discovery of another 10 moons. Six additional moons have been discovered by telescope since the Voyager flyby. Uranus has a faint planetary ring system, composed of dark particulate matter up to 10m in diameter. The ring system was discovered in 1977 by James L. Elliot, Edward W. Dunham, and Douglas J. Mink. Uranus' natural satellites Name Diameter (km) Mass (kg) Mean orbital radius (km) Orbital period Cordelia 26 4.5×1016 49,752 0.335033 days Ophelia 32 5.4×1016 53,764 0.376409 days Bianca 44 9.3×1016 59,165 0.434577 days Cressida 66 3.43×1017 61,767 0.463570 days Desdemona 58 1.78×1017 62,659 0.473651 days Juliet 84 5.57×1017 64,358 0.493066 days Portia 110 1.68×1018 66,097 0.513196 days.
Elite (computer game) - with 100 Credits and a lightly armed trading ship, the Cobra Mark III, to his name. Most of the ships that the player encounters are similarly named after snakes. Wealth can be accumulated through a number of means. These include piracy, trade, military missions, bounty hunting and mining asteroids. With the credits generated by these enterprises, the player is able to upgrade the ship with such enhancements as better weapons, shields, increased cargo capacity and a docking pilot. Elite's open ended game model, advanced game engine and revolutionary 3D graphics ensured that it was ported to virtually every home computer system of the day, and earned it a place as a classic and a genre maker in gaming history. As well as the numerous imitations developed, such as Wing Commander: Privateer,.
Ernst Öpik - (1948-1981) at the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland. Öpik specialized in the study of minor bodies, such as asteroids, comets, and meteors. In 1932 he postulated a theory concerning the origins of comets in our solar system. He believed that they originated in a cloud orbiting far beyond the orbit of Pluto. This cloud is now known to us as the Oort Cloud..
Euphrosyne - was taken from a convent and made to marry Michael II "Psellus, in order to strengthen his shaky dynastic claims. The highly controversial marriage proved barren and after his death and the accession of her stepson she again retired. The more dynamic Empress Euphrosyne (died ca. 1210) was the wife of Alexius III Angelus who secured the election of her husband to the throne by wholesale bribery. She virtually took the government into her hands, working through the minister Vatatzes and temporarily restored the waning influence of the monarchy over the nobles. Her reputation for profligate extravagance undercut the dynasty's popularity, however, in spite of her talent for government. In the sack of Constantinople in 1203 by the crusaders she was abandoned by her husband but joined him in exile and.
