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The researchers saw an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon.
(National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)
If the enthusiasm of the researchers announces it, an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon could well escape in more than one way.
University of Arizona Ph.D. Student Teddy Kareta led a group of researchers studying space rock. The group presented its findings Tuesday at a conference of the Planetary Science Division of the American Astronomical Society in Tennessee.
But what makes 3200 Phaethon so interesting?
The blue asteroid behind the Geminid meteor shower was found in the skies in 1983. Previously, astronomers have connected meteor shower with comets, Kareta wrote in a press release.
"At the time, the assumption was that Phaethon was probably a dead comet and consumed," said Kareta, "but the comets are usually red in color, not blue. So, even though the extremely eccentric orbit of Phaethon should shout. It's hard to say if Phaethon looks more like an asteroid or more than a dead comet. "
Kareta wrote that to make his observations, his team had used telescopes in Arizona and Hawaii to observe the sunlight reflected by space rock.
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Kareta wrote that the asteroid "seems to be one of the" blueest "asteroids or comets of the same color in the solar system," he added.
The team also associated 3200 Phaethon with another blue-colored asteroid, dubbed 2 Pallas. Kareta wrote that the group thinks that Phaethon "may be bound or separated from" this other object.
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