asteroidas‧te‧roid /ˈæstərɔɪd/ noun [countable] 
Word Origin
Word OriginWORD ORIGINasteroid
ExamplesOrigin:
1800-1900 Greek asteroeides ‘like a star’, from aster ‘star’EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
Thesaurus- Astronomers had accidentally caught a comet in the act of turning into an asteroid.
- Comets and asteroids are subjects for Chapter 14.
- Extraction of helium-3 from the surfaces of asteroids is not likely to compare with that from the Moon.
- Finally, the total exposed surface area of the asteroids is less than the surface area of the Moon.
- For example, Vesta, the fourth-largest asteroid, reflects light in a unique way: some 50 meteorites match it closely.
- These asteroids with Earth-crossing orbits and orbital periods greater than one Earth year constitute the Apollo family.
- Two large asteroids have passed alarmingly close to Earth in the past few years.
- We do it now on a small scale to bring the rocks into Earth orbit from the asteroid belt.
THESAURUSin the sky► star
Collocations a large ball of burning gas in space, which can be seen at night as a point of light in the sky: · The dark night sky was clear and full of stars.
► planet one of the large objects that goes around the Sun, for example the Earth, Saturn, Mercury, or Mars: · The planet Uranus was discovered in 1781.
► sun the star that gives us light and heat, around which the planets move. There are also many millions of other suns in the universe: · The sun came out from behind a cloud.· a dying sun
► moon the round object that moves around the Earth every 28 days, or a similar object that goes around another planet: · The moon rose in the night sky.· Titan is one of the moons of Saturn.
► asteroid a mass of rock that moves around the sun. Most asteroids are found between Jupiter and Mars: · the asteroid belt
► pulsar a type of star that is far away in space and produces radiation and radio waves
► quasar an object like a star that is far away in space and shines extremely brightly
► supernova a very large exploding star
► constellation a group of stars that forms a particular pattern and has a name: · The constellation of Orion is one of the most easily recognizable patterns of stars in the night sky.
► galaxy one of the large groups of stars that make up the universe: · Astronomers have detected a galaxy 11 billion light years away.
► the universe all space, including all the stars and planets: · How many planets in the universe have life?
WORD SETS► Astronomyasteroid, nounastro-, prefixastronaut, nounastronomical, adjectiveastronomy, nounastrophysics, nounAU, aurora borealis, nounBig Bang, the, nounblack hole, nouncelestial, adjectivecomet, nounconstellation, nouncorona, nouncosmic, adjectivecosmic ray, nouncosmology, nouncosmonaut, noundead, adjectiveearth, nouneclipse, nouneclipse, verbecliptic, nounequinox, nounescape velocity, nounextraterrestrial, adjectivegalactic, adjectivegalaxy, noungeostationary orbit, nounHubble Space Telescope, the, infinity, nounintergalactic, adjectiveinterplanetary, adjectiveinterstellar, adjectiveJupiter, nounlaunch, verblaunch, nounlight year, nounLittle Bear, lunar, adjectivelunar month, nounmagnitude, nounMars, nounMercury, nounmeteor, nounmeteoric, adjectivemeteorite, nounMilky Way, the, month, nounmoon, nounmorning star, nounNASA, nounnebula, nounNeptune, nounnew moon, nounnova, nounobservatory, nounorbit, verborbit, nounorbiter, nounouter space, nounphase, nounplanet, nounplanetarium, nounplasma, nounPluto, nounquadrant, nounquarter, nounquasar, nounradio telescope, nounring, nounrocket, nounsatellite, nounSaturn, nounsea, nounshooting star, nounsolar, adjectivesolar system, nounspace, nounspace capsule, nounspacecraft, nounspace probe, nounspaceship, nounspace shuttle, nounspace station, nounstar, nounstargazer, nounsteady state theory, nounstellar, adjectivesun, nounsunspot, nounsupernova, nountelescope, nountelescopic, adjectiveterrestrial, adjectiveUranus, nounVenus, nounwane, verbwax, verbwhite dwarf, nounworld, nounzenith, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE► carbonaceous
one of the many small planets that move around the Sun, especially between Mars and Jupiter· Therefore a carbonaceous asteroid, although unlikely, can not be ruled out as an explanation of the Tunguska event.· These appear to be pieces of carbonaceous asteroids.· Comets and carbonaceous asteroids of the appropriate energy disrupt too high, whereas typical iron objects reach and crater the terrestrial surface.· Phobos and Deimos are small, irregularly shaped bodies, generally similar to carbonaceous asteroids in color, reflectivity, and density.· The solid residue left after baking the volatiles out of carbonaceous asteroid materials is of considerable interest in its own right.
► large· Two large asteroids have passed alarmingly close to Earth in the past few years.· The first and largest asteroid discovered, Ceres, was found on the night of January 1, 1801.· The new data shows that many stars are rich in iron, having gobbled up large numbers of asteroids and comets.· Within the main belt are several distinct orbital families of large asteroids, each family named for its most prominent member.· Such ease of access means that very large masses of asteroid materials can be returned to the vicinity of Earth.
► small· Almost 1,000 small asteroids crossing our orbit are now known, 300 of them found last year alone.· But we have so far concentrated exclusively on the small minority of asteroids that have orbits bringing them close to Earth.· These results affect assessments of the hazard posed by impacts of small comets and asteroids.· In 1976 a small asteroid, 2062 Aten, was discovered in an orbit that actually circles the Sun faster than Earth.
► stony· Even if the comets had strengths comparable to that of stony asteroids, they still could not fit the Tunguska observations.· Similarly, granting a carbonaceous object the strength of a stony asteroid would allow it to penetrate to comparable altitudes.· Figure 2 shows the effect of impact angle on the explosion of stony asteroids.· Values of much less than 30° seem to be inconsistent with an explanation of the Tunguska object as a stony asteroid.· FIG. 2 Airburst altitudes for four 15-Mton stony asteroids with different incidence angles.
NOUN► belt· Almost all of the moving objects seen are slow-moving belt asteroids, out between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.· Spacewatch has been discovering as many as 20, 000 new belt asteroids per year.· Spacewatch discovers hundreds of new kilometer-sized belt asteroids with every observing run.· The wealth of materials available in the belt asteroids, revealed by the study of meteorites, staggers the imagination.
► impact· The effects of comet and asteroid impacts are potentially damaging to life in general, and to human civilization in particular.· Thus the four terrestrial planets are all affected in important but very different ways by comet and asteroid impacts.· Much water has been lost for ever from Mars, blasted into space by comet and asteroid impacts.· Clearly, the iron-nickel metal on the surface of the Moon is contributed by asteroid impacts.
VERB► find· Say we find three S asteroids of that brightness for every C type.· Generally, it is very difficult to find asteroids smaller than about 1 kilometer in diameter using photographic techniques.· It is clearly important to find out what asteroids are made of.· It has also found two Centaur family asteroids in orbits that cross the orbits of several of the Jovian planets.