Madrid. A total of fifteen active asteroids have been discovered in a review of 430 thousand images from the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) of the Víctor M. Blanco telescope in Chile.
Some extraordinary asteroids have “activity”: comet-like tails or envelopes of gas and dust. NASA’s Active Asteroids project had more than eight thousand volunteer astronomers reviewing images, the agency reports in a statement.
An article about the results, now published in the Astronomical Journal, includes nine volunteers among the co-authors.
The image above shows a comet tail from asteroid 2015 VA108, one of the active asteroids detected by this program. The object, indicated by the green arrow, orbits entirely within the main asteroid belt (located between Mars and Jupiter), but sports a comet-like tail.
Studying these rare active asteroids teaches scientists about the formation and evolution of the solar system, including the origins of water here on Earth. These objects can also help future space exploration because the same ices that cause comet-like tails can power rockets or provide breathable air.
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– 2024-04-09 15:07:44
