The solar system is prety darn crowded

[ScottM]

Cool video of asteroids that have been discovered and plotted since the 1980's

 

[fgcason]

You can tell when the automated sky survey hardware started operating in the 90's.

And even with that, we still have big rocks go sailing past us that we didn't see coming.

 

[tonycondon]

interesting that right at the end the astronomers started looking for asteroids at sunrise and sunset insted of in the middle of the night.

 

[steingar]

Of course the animation is grossly out of scale. With the Sun at the size shown the average asteroid would be the size of a molecule.

 

[ScottM]

Of course the animation is grossly out of scale. With the Sun at the size shown the average asteroid would be the size of a molecule.

I was more concerned with the false idea that the sun was at the center of the solar system when we know the earth is the center of the universe. Well at least according to my Texas BoE science text book

 

[fgcason]

interesting that right at the end the astronomers started looking for asteroids at sunrise and sunset insted of in the middle of the night.

That's 2010. What is the new wide field sky survey spacecraft right now? I can't remember. I'm guessing that's it.

 

[EdFred]

interesting that right at the end the astronomers started looking for asteroids at sunrise and sunset insted of in the middle of the night.

That's because the ones we are worried about aren't the ones between Mars and Jupiter, it's the ones between us and the sun. Can't view 'em in the day time, or the night time.