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List of Mars-crossing minor planets

List of Mars-crossing minor planets is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of Mars-crossing minor planets rather than just read about it. In short: A Mars-crossing asteroid (MCA, also Mars-crosser, MC) is an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars. Some Mars-crossers numbered below 100000 are listed here.

List of Mars-crossing minor planets — main illustration
List of Mars-crossing minor planets — illustration

Key takeaways

  • List of Mars-crossing minor planets belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect List of Mars-crossing minor planets to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of List of Mars-crossing minor planets from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A Mars-crossing asteroid (MCA, also Mars-crosser, MC) is an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars. Some Mars-crossers numbered below 100000 are listed here. They include the two numbered Mars trojans 5261 Eureka and (101429) 1998 VF31. Many databases, for instance the JPL Small-Body Database (JPL SBDB), only list asteroids with a perihelion greater than 1.3 AU as Mars-crossers. An asteroid with a perihelion less than this is classed as a near-Earth object even though it is crossing the orbit of Mars as well as crossing (or coming near to) that of Earth. Nevertheless, these objects are listed on this page. A grazer is an object with a perihelion below the aphelion of Mars (1.67 AU) but above the Martian perihelion (1.38 AU). The JPL SBDB lists 13,500 Mars-crossing asteroids. Only 18 MCAs are brighter than absolute magnitude (H) 12.5, which typically makes these asteroids with H<12.5 more than 13 km in diameter depending on the albedo. The smallest known MCAs have an absolute magnitude (H) of around 24 and are typically less than 100 meters in diameter. There are over 21,600 known Mars-crossers of which only 5751 have received a MPC number. Earth having more gravity and surface area than Mars attracts more impactors than Mars. Earth is impacted about 20 times more than the Moon, and Mars only gets impacted about 3 to 5 times more than the Moon.

Co-orbital L4 (leading cloud):

(121514) 1999 UJ7 L5 (trailing cloud):

5261 Eureka – the only named Mars trojan (101429) 1998 VF31 (311999) 2007 NS2 (385250) 2001 DH47 (816688) 2011 SC191 2011 UN63 Candidates

2011 SL25

Inner grazers

Inner grazers that are also Earth-crossers or grazers

Mars-crossers that are also Earth-crossers or grazers These objects are not catalogued as Mars-crossers in databases such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's online Small-body Database Browser. Instead, they are categorized as Near Earth Objects (NEOs).

Outer grazers

Mars-crossers

See also List of Mercury-crossing minor planets List of Venus-crossing minor planets List of Earth-crossing minor planets List of Jupiter-crossing minor planets List of Saturn-crossing minor planets List of Uranus-crossing minor planets List of Neptune-crossing minor planets

References

External links Jet Propulsion Laboratory Small-Body Database Browser Very Close Approaches (<0.01 AU) of PHAs to Mars 1900–2200 Upcoming Close Approaches (<0.10 AU) of Near-Earth Objects to Mars Planetary Close Encounters for the next 200 years

Illustrations

List of Mars-crossing minor planets: The orbit of Mars (yellow band; varies between 1.381 and 1.666 AU) displayed with 6 theoretically possible orbits for an asteroid (red line). The orbit of a Mars-crosser is displayed in the bottom row on the right. In generic terms, a Mars-crosser has a smaller perihelion and a larger aphelion compared to Mars.Special cases include inner-grazers (top row, in the middle) and outer-grazers (bottom row, in the middle), which do not completely cross the orbital band described by Mars. The other three diagrams describe a co-orbital configuration (top row, on the right) where the asteroid's orbit is contained within the orbital band of Mars, as well as a near-Earth asteroid such as an Amor asteroid (top row, on the left) and a main-belt asteroid, for example of the Hungaria family, which orbits are contained completely either inside or outside the orbit of Mars, respectively.
The orbit of Mars (yellow band; varies between 1.381 and 1.666 AU) displayed with 6 theoretically possible orbits for an asteroid (red line). The orbit of a Mars-crosser is displayed in the bottom row on the right. In generic terms, a Mars-crosser has a smaller perihelion and a larger aphelion compared to Mars.Special cases include inner-grazers (top row, in the middle) and outer-grazers (bottom row, in the middle), which do not completely cross the orbital band described by Mars. The other three diagrams describe a co-orbital configuration (top row, on the right) where the asteroid's orbit is contained within the orbital band of Mars, as well as a near-Earth asteroid such as an Amor asteroid (top row, on the left) and a main-belt asteroid, for example of the Hungaria family, which orbits are contained completely either inside or outside the orbit of Mars, respectively.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of Mars-crossing minor planets

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of Mars-crossing minor planets claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of Mars-crossing minor planets before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of Mars-crossing minor planets ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of Mars-crossing minor planets

In research
List of Mars-crossing minor planets appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses List of Mars-crossing minor planets in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
List of Mars-crossing minor planets is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of minor planets, Mars-crossing asteroids, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for List of Mars-crossing minor planets outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study List of Mars-crossing minor planets in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what List of Mars-crossing minor planets means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain List of Mars-crossing minor planets out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of Mars-crossing minor planets in simple terms?

A Mars-crossing asteroid (MCA, also Mars-crosser, MC) is an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars. Some Mars-crossers numbered below 100000 are listed here.

Why does List of Mars-crossing minor planets matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of Mars-crossing minor planets?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of Mars-crossing minor planets.

Tags

  • Lists of minor planets
  • Mars-crossing asteroids

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