Space is just plain weird.
"These asteroids are almost as old as our solar system," lead author Driss Takir, a planetary scientist at NASA Astromaterials,In fact, the space rocks are an awful lot like the dwarf planet Ceres, which is known for being the only dwarf planet in the solar system to have water — and a lot of it, seemingly.Using NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility, the astronomers unearthed the composition of these Ceres-esque rocks, shining a light on their mysterious origins.
Like Ceres, the asteroids are porous, meaning they were "not heated sufficiently to transform them into a compact rocky structure soon after their formation," explained co-author Vladimir Neumann, a geoscientist at the Technical University of Berlin, in aThis suggests the asteroids initially formed in the colder, outer reaches of the system, and then were pulled inward by the gravity of Jupiter or Saturn.
"Our computational models show that these asteroids must have arrived in the main asteroid belt through complex dynamic processes, shortly after their formation in the outer regions of the Solar System," Neumann added.But perhaps the most interesting implications of their findings pertain to our own planet.
"This would be perhaps the kind of objects that made it into the solar system and brought ice and organics with them," Andy Rivkin, an astronomer at John Hopkins who was not involved in the study,
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
How a group of amateur astronomers captured a NASA spacecraft crashing into an asteroidSmall backyard telescopes for the win.
Leer más »
Just How Dark Were the Dark Ages?After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe wasn’t quite the horrible and backwards place earlier historians would have you believe. Modern scholars now look at the Dark Ages in a whole new light.
Leer más »
Alarmed by Satellite Constellations, Astronomers Petition the UN for HelpAn international collaboration is asking the UN to address the impacts of satellites on astronomy and devise potential solutions to the mounting problem.
Leer más »
The James Webb Is Getting Closer to Finding What Ionized the UniverseAstronomers have determined that so-called 'leaky' galaxies may have responsible for ionizing the universe.
Leer más »
Astronomers discovered a planet that shouldn't existAstronomers are baffled by a 'forbidden planet' that many say shouldn't even be able to exist with our current models of the universe.
Leer más »
Astronomers atop Mt. Hamilton talk snowfall impacts, power loss, and dangerous travelAround 30 staffers who live on-site at the top of Mt. Hamilton in the South Bay have been dealing with dangerous driving conditions, power loss, and other impacts from the rare snows.
Leer más »