"Rogue" asteroids -- space rocks with compositions at odds with their position in the solar system - may be the norm, not the exception, U.S. astronomers say. Many scientists had long believed the solar system's asteroid population was essentially static -- those that formed near the sun remained near the sun, while those that formed farther out stayed on the outskirts. But in the last decade, asteroids that appear to have formed in warmer environments -- that is, closer to the sun -- have been found further out in the solar system, and vice versa, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working with colleagues at the Paris Observatory, reported Wednesday. The scientists analyzed the size, composition and location of more than 100,000 asteroids throughout the solar system and found rogue asteroids are more common than previously thought -- suggesting the early solar system may have undergone dramatic changes before the planets assumed their current alignment. Jupiter may have drifted closer to the sun, they suggest, dragging with it a host of asteroids that originally formed in the colder edges of the solar system, before moving back out to its current position, simultaneously disturbing more close-in asteroids, scattering them outward. "It's like Jupiter bowled a strike through the asteroid belt," MIT researcher Francesca DeMeo said. "Everything that was there moves, so you have this melting pot of material coming from all over the solar system." The findings could help scientists refine theories of how the solar system evolved early in its history, he said.
GMT 10:28 2018 Friday ,19 January
Amazon narrows list of 'HQ2' candidates to 20GMT 09:04 2018 Thursday ,18 January
China to step up cryptocurrency crackdownGMT 08:32 2018 Sunday ,14 January
Japan's new crypto-currency crooners sing the bitcoin beatsGMT 09:22 2018 Friday ,12 January
Top European chefs take electric pulse fishing off the menuGMT 20:15 2018 Tuesday ,09 January
ADGM and Bahrain EDB agree to collaborate on fintechGMT 13:45 2018 Tuesday ,09 January
Apple urged to shield kids from iPhone addictionGMT 00:14 2018 Monday ,08 January
John Young, who set records in space sub: with NASA, is dead at 87GMT 08:31 2017 Friday ,21 July
Samsung heiress ordered to pay $7.6 millionMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor