NASA has discovered something creepy on the asteroid Bennu – bits of another planet.
The government’s space agency said in a statement posted on its website that parts of the asteroid Vesta, measuring five to 14 feet, were found on Bennu. They also differ significantly in color compared to the asteroid Bennu.
“We found six boulders measuring 5 to 14 feet (about 1.5 to 4.3 meters) in the southern hemisphere of Bennu and adjacent to the equator,” the study’s lead author, Daniela Delagistina, said in a statement. “These boulders are brighter than the rest of the Bennu and match the stuff from Vesta.”
During spring 2019, these images were captured in NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft, showing fragments of the asteroid Vesta present on the surface of the asteroid Bennu. Bright boulders (round in the images) are Vestani pyroxene rich material. Some bright material appears on individual rocks (left), while others appear conflicts within larger boulders (right). (Credits: NASA / Goddard / University of Arizona)
A spectacular picture of NASA’s asteroid Bennu just 0.4 miles away
After scientists discovered fragments in the spring of 2019, scientists observed them further and found traces of the mineral pyroxene found on Vesta.
Hanna Kapla, co-author of the study, added in the statement: “Our leading hypothesis is that Bennu inherited this material from his parent planet after being struck by a ventoid (a piece of Vesta).” “Then, when the parent planet was destructively disrupted, a portion of its debris accumulated in Bennu under its own gravity, including some of Vesta’s pyroxene.”
NASA made a video to show more detailed findings.
It is not uncommon for asteroids to break into each other. Examples include dark matter on crater walls seen by a Dawn spacecraft in Vesta, a black rock seen by a Hayabusa spacecraft on Itawa Kawa, and a recent S-type of material observed by Hybusa 2 at Raigu, NASA said in a statement. “This suggests that many asteroids are participating in a complex orbital dance that results in cosmic mashups,” NASA wrote in a statement.
The researchers hope that future observations will provide them with clues as to why these mashups occur.
Dante Lure Retta, co-author of the study and chief investigator of OSIRIS-Rex, said future studies of planetary families should be done with the presence of material like Vesta at the origin of Bennu as well as a clear lack of other planetary types. “We are looking forward to the return sample, which we hope will contain these interesting types of pieces.”
The research was published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy.
Asteroids are coming out of Benue Rocks – and NASA isn’t sure why
Since arriving at the asteroid in December 2018, OSIRIS-Rex (which is the original, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security Regolith Explorer) has been observing the space rock and looking for landing sites.
After being delayed by the coronavirus epidemic, NASA said the first attempt to sample Australasia would take place on October 20, with 25 back gusts to be pushed back. The second rehearsal was postponed to June 11 on August.
In December 2019, before the epidemic, NASA chose the place where it would land on the planet.
He has broken down some incredible images of the planet and made observations about it that have astonished researchers, including the fact that he is shooting a rock.
OSIRIS-Rex is expected to return to Earth in mid-2021 and return with samples in September 2023.
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