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It is red, quite large, and no business in the main asteroid belt, but their discovery confirms the complex conditions that existed when the solar system was still forming.
new Research Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters detailing the discovery of two very red main belt asteroids. Named 203 Bombega and 269 Justitia, the asteroids have more red spectral markings than any other asteroid in the main belt, a densely populated group of asteroids lying between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. New newspaper led by him Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)JAXA) Astronom Sunao Hasegawa.
Importantly, this red asteroid is similar to a trans-Neptunian object, that is, an object in faFurther away from Neptune, the planet farthest from the Sun (without respect for the dwarf planet Pluto). This could mean that 203 Bombeja and 269 Justitia were formed there in the Kuiper Belt Then drift inside When the solar system was young. If confirmed, the new results showed how chaotic conditions were back then and that materials from different parts of the solar system can sometimes mix.
The aim of this study was to document the distribution and composition of large asteroids in the main belt. Large asteroids, especially those more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) wide, likely survived the early days of the solar system. By studying these things, scientists hope to see what conditions were like about 4 billion years ago.
To do this, astronomers performed visible and near-infrared spectroscopic observations of the main belt using the Telescope Facility (IRTF) and the Seoul National University Astronomical Observatory (SAO). This international collaboration involves scientists from MIT, University of Hawaii“Me, Seoul National University, Kyoto University, and many other institutions.
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Asteroid 203 Bombaja has a diameter of 68 miles (110 km) while Justetia 269 is only half that. Both have an unusual red spectrum, which means they reflect a lot of red light. It’s even redder than a D-type asteroid, previously thought to be the reddest object in the asteroid belt.
The outer solar system is filled with material left over from the formation of the solar system, including minor planets (asteroids) and centaurs (ice planets located between Jupiter and Neptune). These distant objects are very red in color and contain complex organic compounds such as methane and methanol ice. When viewed through a spectrometer, these compounds give the asteroid a reddish appearance. In contrast, objects in the inner solar system have negligible traces of organic matter, and so tend to reflect blue light.
Asteroids 203 Bombega and 269 Justetia “are believed to have formed near the outer edge of the solar system beyond the distant organic snow line and then moved into the asteroid belt during the early solar system formation epoch,” notes JAXA. see press. With “organic snow lines,” scientists indicate locations in the solar system where methanol and methane turn into ice.
These results indicate the presence of several main belt asteroids that formed outside the solar system, and the possibility of such a group of objects in the main belt. A good next step would be to determine the exact proportions of this red asteroid population. In addition, the new study points to the main belt as a good destination for future missions. Instead of traveling to the outer edge of the solar system to get samples of Kuiper Belt objects, all we have to do is send a probe into the asteroid belt, where it can study inner asteroids and objects that formed very far away. .
again: Comet 67P changed color frequently during the historic Rosetta mission.
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