The first asteroid ever discovered - Carrie Nugent
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On the night of January 1, 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi, a priest in Palermo, Italy, was mapping the stars in the sky. Over three nights, he'd look at and draw the same set of stars, carefully measuring their relative positions. That night, he measured the stars. The next night, he measured them again. To his surprise, one had moved. The third night, the peculiar star had moved again. This meant it couldn't be a star at all. It was something new, the first asteroid ever discovered, which Piazzi eventually named Ceres. Asteroids are bits of rock and metal that orbit the Sun. At over 900 kilometers across, Ceres is a very large asteroid. But through a telescope, like Piazzi's, Ceres looked like a pinpoint of light similar to a star. In fac...
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On the night of January 1, 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi, a priest in Palermo, Italy, was mapping the stars in the sky. Over three nights, he'd look at and draw the same set of stars, carefully measuring their relative positions. That night, he measured the stars. The next night, he measured them again. To his surprise, one had moved. The third night, the peculiar star had moved again. This meant it couldn't be a star at all. It was something new, the first asteroid ever discovered, which Piazzi eventually named Ceres. Asteroids are bits of rock and metal that orbit the Sun. At over 900 kilometers across, Ceres is a very large asteroid. But through a telescope, like Piazzi's, Ceres looked like a pinpoint of light similar to a star. In fac...
