Harianjogja.com, JAKARTA – Astronomers have detected a rare object gliding in the solar system through the main asteroid belt which could be asteroids and comets.
While the asteroid in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter did not change its structure, QN173 2005 appears to be dropping dust as it moves and has a 7,20,000-kilometer long tail suggesting that the asteroid may be covered in icy material, which evaporates when active.
Reported from Space.com and India Today, 2005 QN173 was first seen in 2005, which has similar characteristics to other asteroids , surrounded by a dust cloud 3.2 kilometers wide. The tail length in July 2021 is estimated to be more than 720,000 kilometers, slightly less than twice the distance from Earth to the Moon.
Despite its long tail, its small width of almost 1,400 kilometers, which poses new challenges and the researchers say that “this very narrow tail tells us that dust particles barely drift from the nucleus at very slow speeds and that gas streams escape from comets that are escaping from the nucleus. usually lifting dust into space from comets is very weak.”
The object is unique because it conflicts with conditions in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
QN173 2005, which has been spotted in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter appears to be releasing ice and dust as it moves, leaving a trail and conflicting presence in the main belt.
Similar objects have been seen since 2006 which have attracted scientific interest as most of Earth’s water is thought to have been sent via asteroid impact from the main asteroid belt while Earth was forming.
Astronomers believe that studying these active objects offers insight into the origins of life on Earth.
Source: Bisnis.com
– .
