Keith Cooper is a freelance science journalist and editor in the United Kingdom, and has a degree in physics and astrophysics from the University of Manchester.
is providing astronomers with a window into the past as they seek to unravel the history of these small space rocks believed to have oncecan be dangerous, with lots of impacts having taken place over the course of history — for instance, consider theand Jupiter, were also struck. When that happened, those asteroids would shatter into smaller pieces.
Now, finally, that work has been completed thanks to Pinilla-Alonso's Ph.D. student, Brittany Harvison, who undertook the duty of studying infrared observations of the Erigone family of primitive asteroids — the final family to be studied for the PRIMASS project. The Erigone family is a fairly young one, cosmically speaking, as the collision that created it is calculated to have occurred only 130 million years ago.
Harvison found that 43% of the Erigone family, including 163 Erigone, are C-type carbonaceous asteroids, meaning they are carbon-rich. That so many of the Erigone family are C-types is not surprising because that's the most common type of asteroid in general, and one that often contains evidence of hydrated, or water-bearing, minerals. As such, C-type asteroids are indeed a leading candidate for bringing water to Earth.
Harvison's main discovery, however, is that Erigone family members all share a similar basic composition that is not repeated by any other primitive asteroid family. Indeed, all the families are unique with their own differing levels of hydration. Being able to match which families of asteroids have the greatest water content will help point astronomers in the right direction when searching for the culprits that brought water to Earth.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Barbarian Perfectly Seized 1 Bill Skarsgård Trend (& Then Flipped It)Barbarian Keith&39;s ID next to Bill Skarsgard as Keith
Read more »
Celebrating Earth Day: The first satellite images of the earth were taken 64 years agoTIROS 1 was the first weather satellite, launched in 1960
Read more »
Why on Earth do we celebrate Earth Day?Earth day is coming up on Monday but do you know what Earth Day actually is. Or why we celebrate?
Read more »
Unraveling water mysteries beyond Earth: Ground-penetrating radar will seek bodies of water on JupiterFinding water on distant planets and moons in our solar system is a challenge, especially when the instrument is thousands of kilometers away from the surface, but scientists presenting at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly describe how ground-penetrating radar is used to discover bodies of water below the surface of distant planets...
Read more »
Days After Keith McNally Called Lauren Sánchez ‘Revolting,’ He Had a Rodent Problem in His Restaurant…Since 2007, Jezebel has been the Internet's most treasured source for everything celebrities, sex, and politics...with teeth.
Read more »
Kaprice Keith Hunting for Nebraska Offer During Spring Game VisitNebraska has a familiar visitor coming to town for the spring game competition this weekend. His name is Kaprice Keith. Keith is an athlete from Bellevue West H
Read more »