Why Were Asteroids Not Discovered Until the 19th Century

question 18

Multiple Choice

Why were asteroids not discovered until the 19th century?

• A) although asteroids are the same size as the planets, they are completely covered with dark dusty material, which means they reflect almost no light
• B) in their long looping orbits, it was not until the 19th century that an asteroid came close enough to the Earth to be detectable
• C) several asteroids collided with each other in early 1801, calling them to the attention of astronomers
• D) asteroids are generally small compared to planets and require a good telescope and patient searching to spot them
• E) only after Halley's work did astronomers think to look for the tails which allow us to spot an asteroid

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