Lecture 42: Asteroids and Meteoroids

Asteroids are the leftover rocky materials from the formation of the Solar System that reside mainly in a broad belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Meteoroids are fragments of asteroids or bits of debris from passing comets that occasionally pass through our atmosphere as meteors, and even more rarely survive the fiery passage to reach the ground as a meteorite. This lecture reviews the physical and dynamical (orbital) properties of Asteroids and Meteoroids, and discusses the role of Jupiter and orbital resonances in dynamically sculpting the Main Belt. Recorded 2006 Nov 27 in 100 Stillman Hall on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.