The difference between a natural and an artificial satellite is that the natural is a celestial body in space that orbits a larger body, such as Moon Which moves around the Earth.
The artificial satellite is a machine of human creation that is sent to the space or the orbit of the Earth for the collection of data, communication and other ends.
The Moon is a natural satellite of Earth.
We understand by satellite any object that revolves around a larger one and generally, when someone mentions the word satellite it is referring to a machine.
The first artificial satellite launched into space was named Sputnik 1 and was created by the Soviet Union in 1957.
Some satellites in history
The Sputnik 1 was the size of a basketball with a weight of approximately 3 and a half kilos. It was in orbit until the 8 of January of 1958 when it was cremated when returning to the atmosphere. The signal that emitted allowed to measure the concentration of ions and provided other important data.
In 1958 the first satellite was launched by NASA, called Explorer 1. The first image taken from Earth was made in 1959 by Explorer 6, one of its successors.
In 1969, the United States undertook a space mission called Apollo 11, which was the first manned trip to reach the surface of the Moon.
Currently, according to the UCS Satellite Database, 1,459 operational satellites were recorded in orbit around Earth in 2016. There are 593 people who belong to the United States, 192 to China, 135 to Russia and 539 from other countries.
In 2016, the Orbital Debris Program Office of NASA detected about 17,817 objects of space debris in orbit. If you take into account objects less than 10 cm in the Earth's orbit, you can reach the 750 thousand objects of garbage that represent a risk by the possibility of impacting operating satellites.
The oldest satellite still in orbit is the Vanguard 1 that was launched in 1958. Satellites vary in size depending on their function: the largest satellite currently in operation is the International Space Station and NASA's smallest satellite Weighs 64 grams and was created by a 3D printer although it only resists 12 minutes in zero gravity.
Some differences, features, functions and types of each natural and artificial satellite are described below.
Natural satellites
They are created by nature, are not humanly controlled, are permanent, can not be manipulated or used for communication.
You can consider natural satellites to planets, comets and asteroids that spin around stars, such as the eight planets of the Earth's Solar System, as well as many other smaller planets, comets and asteroids that orbit around the planet. Sun . These remain in an orbit of gravitational attraction between the satellite and the other object.
Also, the Moon is the satellite of the Earth; Phobos and Deimos of Mars; The main satellites of Jupiter are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, in addition to the other 69 that have been discovered; Of Neptune are Proteus, Triton and Nereid; The Earth, Venus, Jupiter are satellites of the Sun; Saturn has 62 satellites and Uranus 27.
Natural satellites provide relevant information on the evolution, operation and origin of your system that provide clues to understanding the formation of solar systems.
Types of natural satellites
There are two types of satellites in the Solar System. According to their orbits, they are divided into regular and irregular.
Regular satellites
These are the ones that revolve around an object in the same sense with respect to the Sun. For example the Moon rotates from east to west and Earth also, that is, it is regular because it goes in synchrony.
Irregular satellites
Their orbits are elliptical, very bent and away from their planets. It is believed that they did not form in their orbits but were captured by gravitational attraction.
Natural satellites are classified into four types: pastoral satellites that hold the ring of some planet in position; The Trojan satellites are those asteroids that occupy the points of Lagrange L 4 and L 5; The coorbitary satellites are those that rotate in the same orbit; And there are asteroid satellites that are some asteroids with satellites around it.
Artificial satellites
They are created by hand of man, are controlled by humans, last a while, can be used for communication and data collection.
Artificial satellites help to observe large parts of the Earth, provide a clear view of space, capture images of other planets, facilitate the compression and study of the Universe and more.
At the same time, they are an effective communication medium that has influenced the development of technology and communication signals such as television signals, telephone calls from anywhere on the planet, among others.
Most of these machines have in common two parts that are an antenna and an energy source. The antennas are for sending and receiving information and its power supply can be through battery or solar energy through panels that convert light into electricity.
They provide detailed information on clouds, air and oceans. They help predict the weather, observe volcanoes and fires. They allow observing dangerous rays from the Sun, exploring planets, stars, asteroids and comets.
Satellites have been used for years for military purposes such as infrared sensors for missile tracking, sensors for recording and listening to classified conversations, as well as optical elements for military surveillance.
Types of artificial satellites
The main division of its functions is organized in: research satellites, applications, navigation, meteorology and communication. Its purposes can be varied. Some types that exist are:
Communication Satellite
They are employed in telecommunications, they provide signals of fast transmission with impact in the whole planet. They process information from the source to whoever receives it.
Navigation Satellite
One of the most commonly used is GPS. It transmits radio signals to show locations through an electronic receiver.
Weather Satellite
They allow monitoring climate changes and measuring the weather conditions of other planets.
They continually update atmospheric conditions and can visualize storms, auroras, polluting effects, currents of the seas, flows of energy and more.
Astronomical Satellites
They are used to take readings and observe distant galaxies.
Murderous satellites
They are designed to destroy satellites, enemy warheads and objects from outer space. The first satellite of this type began operating in 1973 and represent a threat to life on Earth.
References
- Allan McInnes. Natural satellites (2015). Retrieved from: sciencelearn.org.nz.
- Maya Inamura. World Space Week: From Science Fiction to Reality (2014). Source: aaas.org.
- Benjamin Elisha Sawe. Types Of Satellites (2017). Source: worldatlas.com.
- Flint Wild. What Is a Satellite? (2017). Source: nasa.gov.
- Natural satellite. Source: newworldencyclopedia.org
- Gaurav Rathee. What does Artificial Satellites Do (2015). Source: digitalperiod.com
- UCS Satellite Database. (2017). Source: ucsusa.org.