What causes an asteroid to drop out of orbit and travel toward Earth?

Question

​What causes an asteroid to drop out of orbit and travel toward Earth?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question asks what causes an asteroid to drop out of its orbit and travel toward Earth.
Since no list of answer choices is provided, I’ll explain the key idea behind the option given: gravitational influence of planets.
A planet’s gravity can perturb an asteroid’s trajectory during a close approach. When the asteroid passes near a planet, its orbital energy and angular momentum can shift in small but meaningful ways, altering its path from a stable solar orbit to a sunward or Earth-crossing trajectory.
Such planetary perturbations are a well-established mechanism for delivering asteroids from the main belt into near-Earth orbits, especially when repeated encounters or resonances steer the asteroid inward.
Other common ideas people might consider include non-gravitational forces (like the Yarkovsky effect), which slowly modify an asteroid’s orbit over long timescales, or collisions that eject material and change momentum. While these can contribute to changes in orbit, they are typically less immediate or less likely to produce a direct Earth-crossing trajectory on short timescales compared to a significant gravitational kick from a planetary encounter.
A misconception to watch out for is attributing Earth-crossing solely to internal properties of the asteroid (size, composition) without acknowledging how external gravitational encounters shape orbital evolution over time.
In sum, planetary gravitational perturbations—especially close approaches and resonant interactions—are a primary mechanism by which an asteroid’s orbit can become unstable and evolve toward Earth-crossing paths, though other factors can play supporting roles depending on the specific asteroid’s history and trajectory.

ESCI 1012 (001)

What causes an asteroid to drop out of orbit and travel toward Earth?

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If you drop something off the Empire State Building, why doesn't it orbit the Earth?

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一颗彗星沿着一条非常细长的轨道运行，靠近太阳，然后向外飞去很远。对于定性模型来说，哪个表述最准确？

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ESCI 1012 (001)

​What causes an asteroid to drop out of orbit and travel toward Earth?

查看解析

登录即可查看完整答案

类似问题

If you drop something off the Empire State Building, why doesn't it orbit the Earth?

Which location is the Perihelion?

If the Sun disappeared, what would happen to the Earth’s orbit?

一颗彗星沿着一条非常细长的轨道运行，靠近太阳，然后向外飞去很远。对于定性模型来说，哪个表述最准确？

低地球轨道上的一颗卫星短暂启动推进器，以提高其沿路径的速度。从定性角度来看，它的轨道会发生什么变化？

Which of these observations would allow you to measure the mass of a planet?

The point in the Earth's orbit around the Sun where the Earth is closest to the Sun is known as the:

更多留学生实用工具

希望你的学习变得更简单

What causes an asteroid to drop out of orbit and travel toward Earth?