[FOTZeiss] Search For Asteroids Near Sun

[Glenn A. Walsh]

Today the MESSENGER spacecraft (which is scheduled to orbit Mercury 2011 March 18) will pass within 0.308 astronomical units (AU) of the Sun (one AU is Earth’s distance from the Sun, approximately 150 million kilometers or 93 million miles), providing MESSENGER scientists with another opportunity to search for vulcanoids. Named after the hypothetical planet Vulcan, whose existence was disproven in 1915, vulcanoids are asteroids that may orbit the Sun inside the orbit of the planet Mercury, although none have yet been discovered.

More info:

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=151 

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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