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Painted stone: asteroids in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

3 minutes

Experience the eerie serenity of 100,000 asteroids in orbit

Located at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has collected imaging data for more than 3 million astronomical objects since it began operating in 2000. Created by the US planetary astronomer Alex H Parker using data from the SDSS, this intricate, awe-inspiring visualisation reveals the colours, relative sizes and orbital paths of more than 100,000 asteroids located in our solar system. Learn more about the research behind the visualisation here.

Video by Alex H Parker

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Support Aeon

Become a Friend for $5 a month or Make a one-off donation

Become a Friend of Aeon or Make a donation

Aeon is a registered charity committed to the spread of knowledge. Our mission is to create a sanctuary online for serious thinking.
But we can’t do it without you.

Aeon is a registered charity committed to the spread of knowledge and a cosmopolitan worldview.
But we can’t do it without you.

Essay/
Evolution
Evolving street-smarts

Living among humans favours fearless problem-solvers interested in new things. That's how city birds get smarter

Menno Schilthuizen

Essay/
History of Science
What is good science?

Demanding that a theory is falsifiable or observable, without any subtlety, will hold science back. We need madcap ideas

Adam Becker