The Pin
February 14 2020, 5:12 pm
The Arrokoth space object, discovered at the beginning of last year in the Kuiper belt by the New Horizons probe, can shed light on the early stages of the formation of the Solar System, as evidenced by three articles on its published geology, origin and composition this Thursday in the journal Science.
In particular, the data collected by the device allowed for the elaboration of a three-dimensional model of that planetesimal – as the ’embryos’ of protoplanets are called – and to discover that the object, which has a peanut-like shape, was created according to which exposes the theory of nebular collapse.
NASA presents a 3D animation of the furthest space object ever studied, which could be a “time capsule” of the Solar System https://t.co/cuKaJnioq0 pic.twitter.com/SePMgKnk2o
– RT in Spanish (@ActualidadRT) February 14, 2020
According to this theory, large space bodies are formed as a result of the gravitational attraction of large dust nebulae. The opposite hypothesis, that of hierarchical accretion, assumes that these objects are born from random collisions of particles, which are struck hard enough to merge with each other.
“The images do not show signs of violence or fractures, the two lobes do not look as if they had impacted each other,” explained astronomer William McKinnon, co-author of the three studies, at a meeting of the American Association for Advancement on Thursday. of Science (AAAS), collects The Guardian. He noted that the very similar composition of the two parts of Arrokoth suggests that they formed together and orbited around each other for a while before joining gently.
“Time capsule”
The meaning of Arrokoth for the study of the early stages of the Solar System is not limited to the confirmation of the theory of nebular collapse. Its smooth surface reveals that it has hardly been impacted by asteroids of distant origin, while its enormous distance with the Sun – the orbit of Arrokoth with our star is more than 40 times farther than that of the Earth -, guarantees a perfect conservation of your subject
“That place is very far from the Sun, so far that temperatures are almost at absolute zero. That preserves objects in a kind of stasis or time capsule, ”explains lead researcher of the New Horizons project, Alan Stern.
Arrokoth turned out to be surprising in terms of what we learned from him. It tells us some deep truths about our Solar System. (…) It is an exceptional world that has told us an extraordinary story, ”McKinnon said.
Previously known as Ultima Thule and renamed to avoid partnerships with the Thule Society? Organization sponsored by Adolf Hitler ?, Arrokoth is the furthest object ever studied.
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