“Spice up your fall observing with a dash of Pallas and nibble of Neptune. Both planet and asteroid are easy to spot in a small telescope. I've never been able to wrap my mind around the fact that the total mass of the main asteroid belt equals just 4% the mass of the Moon. That seems hardly enough to matter, and yet our fate rests on those scraps and shards. A single smack from a 10-kilometer-wide stray and humanity — along with thousands of other species — could face the possibility of extinction. Their small bulk paired with their outsize destructive potential is just one reason to observe asteroids. Certainly, they appear innocent enough. Even at high magnification in amateur telescopes minor planets look like inconsequential pinpoints of light. ...”
16th century woodcut by Johannes Regiomontanus.
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