It’s happening.
It’s happening. It’s happening.
Where do you want us to look?
I’ve been working my whole life for this, yes.
Hi. I'm Jenni.
And I'm Tim.
And we're here to answer some of the Internet’s most asked questions about asteroids.
Asteroids: Rocks flying through space and orbiting the Sun.
I mean, how can you not get excited about these, right?
It is pretty exciting.
They're pretty awesome!
And we have travelled over two billion kilometres in space, to asteroid Bennu,
just to get a piece of it and bring it back to Earth.
With the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft,
which got to asteroid Bennu and is measuring it to try to understand
where we're going to get a sample from
and how we can bring it back to Earth.
Pretty cool.
It's awesome.
So, let's get started.
Okay. Go.
Okay, first question:
Can we see asteroids with the naked eye? Hm. Good question.
Well, we can, but not all of them.
The asteroids that we see with the naked eye have to be close enough to Earth.
They have to be big enough to see.
And they have to be reflecting enough light from the Sun
so that we can actually see them.
Yes.
Good question.
How do asteroids move through space?
Well, when they were formed at the beginning of the solar system,
they got a little push and really haven’t stopped since.
They can accelerate sometimes if they fly close to a planet,
but they’ve just been moving the entire time.
They've just been going.
Just going.
Just going. Just going.
Hey, next question:
Where are asteroids found?
Well, most asteroids in our solar system are found in the main asteroid belt,
which is between Mars and Jupiter.
It's out there. It's far.
It's out there.
Ways away.
Yes.
Why, Jenni, why is studying asteroids so important?
Why?
Well, asteroids tell us about the history of the solar system.
If you can go back and get a piece of an asteroid,
essentially what you’ve done is gone back in time
by four and a half billion years to understand what the early solar system was made of,
and really because they’re the leftover bits that went into forming planets.
It helps us learn how planets were made in the first place.
Wow.
Yes.
Okay, next question:
What is the difference between a comet,
an asteroid and a meteor?
Hm. Good question.
Okay, a comet?
Dusty snowballs.
Yes, big chunks of rock, ice and dust,
and they usually have a tail, right?
They usually have a tail behind them, yes.
They usually have a tail.
Asteroids: Rock.
Metallic or non-metallic.
No tail.
No.
And no water.
No.
No water, no.
No water.
A meteor is a chunk of an asteroid which has entered Earth's atmosphere,
and a meteorite?
Is if it hits the Earth's surface and you can go pick it up.
Right, good question.
How do scientists study asteroids?
Well, one of the ways we do it are with spaceships, like OSIRIS-REx,
that have flown over two billion kilometres to asteroid Bennu.
There are instruments on the spacecraft that can take pictures of it,
to know what it looks like,
to measure what it's made of,
and with a Canadian instrument called OLA,
to measure really, really accurately what the shape is,
so that we can figure out where to grab a sample, to bring it home.
Cool. Wow!
Yes. It's going to be incredible.
No kidding.
Hm, hm. It's science.
When were asteroids formed?
Hm. Well, asteroids were formed when our solar system was formed,
so what, four and a half billion years ago,
and they're really like these… these time capsules in space
that show us what the composition of our solar system was way back then.
Jenni, is there water on asteroids?
No.
None.
No, no water on asteroids.
Maybe there's some water trapped in the rocks but not water as we know it, you know.
No.
We can't swim.
No swimming.
(laughter)
(laughter) (laughter)
I think you can take the next one.
(laughter)
Tim
Yes?
Do asteroids have gravity?
Yes.
They do?
They do? Yes, they do.
Of course they do?
Anything that has mass has gravity.
(laughter)
The problem is that asteroids are usually pretty small,
so the gravity isn't really that strong.
Hm, hm?
Hm, hm? Yes, not strong.
Not strong?
At all.
Now, is there life on asteroids?
Well, no.
(laughter)
No?
No? No.
No. Asteroids are awful, awful places.
There's no atmosphere. There's no water.
The radiation is terrible.
And so there is nothing living on asteroids.
No, bad places to go.
Don't go there.
No.
No, poor choice.
Okay!
Okay! Okay.
Well
We’re done with questions.
CUT
Oh?
I'm taking...
I guess that's it.
All right. We're done.
See you, Tim.
See you, Tim. Cool.