[ad_1]
A startling study of the origin of asteroids and meteorites that collide with Earth revealed that the vast majority came from a small selection of ancient planets.
Astronomers attempt to reconstruct the mysterious origins of the comet 'Oumuamua, a team of researchers from the University of Florida believed to have found the origin of other cosmic objects in our system solar, especially asteroids and meteorites that hit the Earth.
Although we know that the main source of meteorites asteroid belt, the research team found that the vast majority of them are the result of a fragmentation of only five or six minor ancient planets years ago.
In a paper published in Nature Astronomy the team estimated that at least 85% of the estimated 200,000 asteroids of the inner belt were created as a result of this process but the remaining 15% can go back to their origin in the same group of primordial bodies.
This somewhat surprising discovery will be important for our understanding of how our own rocky planet appeared. Perhaps even more crucial, it could prove essential in the way we could protect ourselves against an asteroid killing the planet on a collision course with the Earth.
"We Need to Know What its Nature is"
"Of course, we are very concerned about the number of these bodies and the type of material they contain," said Stanley Dermott, lead author of the study.
comes to Earth and we want to deflect it, we must know what is its nature. "
Dermott and his team have also been able to demonstrate that the type of orbit of an asteroid depends on the size of the latter." 19659003] This suggests that differences in meteorites found on Earth appear because evolutionary changes that occurred within a few large precursor bodies that existed more than 4 billion years ago
"I would not be surprised at all the asteroids in the main asteroid bel t, not only those in the inner belt, to a small number of known parent bodies, "added Dermott.
[ad_2]
Source link
