While NASA reports that five more asteroids are heading toward us this week, four of which are over 50 meters in diameter, the Brazilian research has identified some 19 space rocks of interstellar origin in our solar system.
Scientists from the Geosciences and Exact Sciences Institute of the São Paulo State University have identified asteroids formed in another solar system in the galaxy and have classified them as Centaurs.
These 19 “ extraterrestrial ” asteroids lie between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune, and were spotted thanks to their unusual path around our solar system, according to one of the study’s lead authors, Maria Helena Moreira Morais.
As an example, Morais and his team highlighted asteroid 514107 Ka’epaoka’awela, which is Hawaiian for “Jupiter’s mischievous companion moving in the opposite direction.”
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The space rock’s orbit corresponds to that of Jupiter, but it rotates around the sun in the opposite direction. Then the researchers used a computer simulation that they say “It works like a time machine” charting its trajectory backward for 4.5 billion years beyond the edges of our solar system.
“When we identified it as an object that came from outside the solar system, we didn’t know if it was an isolated case or part of a vast population of immigrant asteroids.” Morais said. “In this latest study, we recognized 19 centaurs of interstellar origin.”
All the planets and asteroids in our solar system come from a thin disk of gas and dust that once orbited the sun. When the disk was broken, everything expanded outward throughout an airplane, so any stranger could have missed the memo and thus would be relatively easy to spot, given their unusual orbits.
“Our simulation showed that 4.5 billion years ago, these objects rotated around the sun in orbits perpendicular to the plane of the disk. Also, they did it in a region distant from the gravitational effects of the original disc. “ Morais said.
These types of studies examine “The importance of interstellar matter for the chemical enrichment of the solar system” And it could help us find new sources of elements that are running here on Earth, like helium.
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Meanwhile, closer to home, Earth will be rocked by no fewer than five more local asteroids this week, with a diameter ranging from a miserable 15 meters to 120 meters, or about twice the height of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. .
Fortunately, all but one will pass us a safe distance of between 3.3 million km and 7.1 million km. However, just to keep us alert, on Wednesday, a 15-meter asteroid will shoot past a distance of around 782,000 kilometers.
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