Mesmerizing Time-Lapse Shows Every Asteroid Discovered Since 1980 (VIDEO)

[n2doc]

Huffington Post | Catharine Smith
The video below, which uses data from the Asteroid Orbital Elements Database, presents a visual history of the asteroids discovered since 1980.

Two white numbers in the lower left-hand corner of the video indicate the year and the number of asteroids known to scientists at that time. Meanwhile, the animation shows the location of these asteroids within the solar system. (As the years pass, new discoveries are highlighted briefly in white. "Earth Crossers" are shown in red, "Earth Approachers" are in yellow, and other asteroids are shown in green.)

In 1980, according to the video, there were only 8,954 known asteroids. By 1990, that number had grown to over 14,000. The YouTube user that uploaded the video explains the new discoveries that took place throughout the 1990s:
As the video moves into the mid 1990's we see much higher discovery rates as automated sky scanning systems come online. Most of the surveys are imaging the sky directly opposite the sun and you'll see a region of high discovery rates aligned in this manner.
When the video ends in 2010, the solar system looks positively packed.

see at link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/27/asteroid-video-time-lapse_n_696883.html

[gblady]

1. absolutely fascinating....

thanks so much for sharing!

[Gator_Matt]

2. Even in an old field of study, we're still making plenty of new discoveries

This is a perfect example of the increase in our knowledge within the past generation in what is an otherwise old field of study. It makes me wonder what we'll discover in the next 30 years.

Great video.

[Fumesucker]

3. This certainly makes it clear that there really is an asteroid belt..

And it shows how powerful Jupiter is at keeping asteroids out of its orbital zone..

Thanks for posting..

[joshcryer]

4. I love how the discovery points follow Earth.

[UpInArms]

5. thanks for a great link!!!

:yourock: