Synonyms
Asteroid; Minor planet
Definition
AU. Astronomical unit – approximately the mean distance between the earth and the sun, about 149 597 871 km.
Aphelion. Point in an orbit that is farthest from the sun.
Apophis. Asteroid (99942) = 2004 MN4.
Minor planet center. The International Astronomical Union’s central clearinghouse for positional observations and orbital data for asteroids, located at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Mass.
MOID. Minimum orbit intersection distance – the closest separation of two orbits. A PHA (potentially hazardous asteroid) is an asteroid with a MOID relative to the earth of less than 0.05 AU.
Near-earth asteroid. An asteroid whose distance from the sun at perihelion is less than 1.30 AU.
Palermo scale. A more quantified version of the Torino scale, including consideration of the time remaining to potential impact.
Perihelion. Point in an orbit that is closest to the sun.
Purgatorio ratio. PR – the ratio of the time interval covered...
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Marsden (Deceased), B.G. (2013). Asteroid Impact Predictions. In: Bobrowsky, P.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_16
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