Researchers found amazing remains of planets destroyed in space

A study in Nature Astronomy detailed how a group of researchers came across something remarkable in an asteroid belt – it turns out that deviant chunks of the belt are not just fragments of rock; rather, they are remnants of existing planets.

The researchers were actually studying asteroids to predict possible collisions with the Earth – towards which the belt is pointing – and to clarify what made them leave the belt, but they were not prepared for what They would find.

For many years, astronomers have assumed that the belt, which revolves around the sun between Mars and Jupiter, was simply composed of standard asteroids – but, on closer inspection, the researchers discovered that most of the 500,000 components were inclined. This means that they are of a composition completely different from what we previously thought.

Originally, there could be at least five planets

One of the researchers involved, Stanley Dermott, spoke of the results saying, "We could not think of forces acting to produce this distribution. is broken and has a strong inclination, so these fragments have this same inclination. "

Scientists were able to conclude that the remnants of the asteroid belt were once planets of their own, so-called" planetesimal ", estimating that it could have been at least five years

This changes what we had previously assumed and highlights other theories about the formation of planets.Today, most researchers have assumed that planets have developed over time. However, David Nesvorny, a researcher at the Southwestern Research Institute, put forward the following theory: "This means that asteroids are born great."

Nesvorny and some of his colleagues believe that the Attraction starts as soon as a circumstellar disk reaches a "siliceous" size.More and more matter creates new planets, at least in the inner solar system – in fact, that is what's Happened in the formation of the Ter re.

"What is needed for the formation of a planet like the Earth?"

The strange thing is that, between Mars and Jupiter, the planets are struggling to develop because the forces in this area are so strong that they are prevented from doing so. As a result, they are broken and end up being part of the asteroid belt that we know today.

Other scientists point out that this theory would contain more water if it was assumed that there were originally more than five planets. What's more, the rest of the asteroid belt should be studied – not just the inner zone.

Dermott and his team would like to focus on further research in this area, and perhaps even extend it to other solar systems. Dermott sees this as a great opportunity: "The whole business of the formation and evolution of the planets and the question of" What do we need to form a planet similar to Earth elsewhere? "is something that we can finally discuss in significant terms."