A planet following Mars, looks as terrifying as parts of the moon.
NASA
Trojan asteroids share an orbital path just like certain planets, either going to the front of the planet or backwards. Jupiter is famous for its many Trojans, But Mars also has a few of them. One of these Martin mates – the asteroid (101429) 1998 VF31 – could be a stunt double for our own moon.
A team led by researchers from the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium (AOP) in Northern Ireland took a closer look at the formation of planet 101029 and drew some interesting connections with our lunar neighbor in a study prepared for the January 2021 issue of Icarus Journal. .Gust 1.
Astronomers use an X-shooter spectrograph on a very large telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile to see how sunlight reflects off the planet’s surface. They analyzed the data and reported it to other space agencies.
Previous observations of asteroids, orbiting Mars in the same orbital path, led the team to speculate that they may have the same structure as normal types of meteors. “To their surprise, they found that the best spectrum match was not with other smaller bodies but with our nearest neighbor, the moon,” lead author Apostolos Cristu said in a statement to the AOP on Tuesday.
Study author Galen Borisov with AOP described the planet 101029 as “a dead-ranger for parts of the moon where bedrock intersections such as crater interiors and mountains have come into contact.”
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So what is the original story of asteroids? Researchers proposed several options. It may actually be similar to normal meteors then, but over time it has been worn by its space adventures.
It could be a part of the moon. Christu recounted the early solar system filled with debris when the moon was broken up by large asteroids: “Such a collision could have reached the orbit of Mars when the Earth was being formed and its Trojans trapped in the clouds.” Said.
The third idea is that the asteroid under the planet was knocked down by a scene of similar effect. Cristu described the concept as “probably more probable.”
Asteroids remain an open-end mystery, but if the moon needs a standing position for a few days, we know who to call.
