There's A Surprising Origin For Many Of The Asteroids In Our Solar System

A cogitation has suggested that the vast majority of asteroids in our Solar System may have a common blood line – a handful of ancient planet .

publish in the journalNature Astronomy , the field of study by the University of Florida suggests that 85 percent of the 200,000 asteroid in the internal asteroid smash come from five or six ancient venial planets . The rest asteroids may come from the same lieu too , although that ’s not know yet .

The researchers used models to hound the asteroids back to five families that surround tumid object send for Flora , Vesta , Nysa , Polana ,   and Eulalia . They intimate they began as “ great primordial planetesimals ” , or small-scale satellite , which broke apart in the early days of the Solar System more than 4 billion years ago .

Of finical interest is learning how these asteroids evolved over time , and tracing back their history can give us a better icon . This can also tell us what materials they might be made of , so that if any sway   made their direction towards Earth , we know what we ’d be dealing with .

“ These turgid bodies purr by the Earth , so of line we ’re very concerned about how many of these there are and what eccentric of textile are in them , ” Stanley Dermott from the University of Florida , the study ’s wind author , said in astatement .

“ If ever one of these comes towards the Earth , and we want to deflect it , we want to roll in the hay what its nature is . ”

It ’s not quite exculpated where the remaining 15 percent of the asteroid add up from , but Dermott and his team advise they may be the remains of other protoplanets , dubbed “ ghost folk ” . Or , as mentioned , they may also descend from one of these other ancient minor planet .

“ I would n’t be surprised if we eventually hunt the origins of all asteroid in the main asteroid whang , not just those in the inner belt , to a small number of know parent body , ” Dermott added in the statement .

There are 400,000 asteroids in the integral asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter , so there is still some mode to go to puzzle out out where they all came from . But this somewhat surprising discipline suggest that , despite the orotund number , they may have total from a similar lieu .