What is this object that appeared in a Canadian province on February 22, 2021? About a year and a half ago, a space rock weighing regarding 2 kg evaporated as it entered the atmosphere. Until then, scientists thought it was a comet since the object came from the Oort cloud, explains Science.org. The Oort cloud is a vast spherical set of bodies located between the limit of the Kuiper belt and approximately 150,000 astronomical units (au).
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Similar discoveries in recent years
But now, thanks to data collected during its fall, experts believe that the object was made of rock rather than ice, and therefore looks more like a asteroid. Other independent observers also claim that this discovery might shed light on the formation of the solar system and on the fact that the Oort cloud would not be composed exclusively of icy comets. “This sheds light on the fact that there is dispersion and deposition of matter from all over the solar system in the Oort cloud.“, says Karen Meech, a scientist at the Hawaii Institute of Astronomy.
For his part, Bill Bottke, a laboratory dynamics specialist at the Southwest Research Institute, believes that the discovery might support some models that objects from the asteroid belt were dispersed in the Oort cloud. Until then, scientists assumed that this cloud had been populated when the gravitational muscle of Jupiter and other giant planets had scattered objects made of ice in the distance. They had been left behind when the outer solar system formed. These objects are recognized as comets For years. But already in 2016, Karen Meech’s teams had discovered one of them whose tail was devoid of ice. It might have been an asteroid, suggesting that the Oort cloud is not that homogeneous.
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A fast and shiny object
Since then, hundreds of equivalent objects have been detected, but it has never been demonstrated that they were asteroids. But with this latest discovery, that might change things. “It was brilliant, very fast and left a luminous train behind it in the center of the atmosphere“, describes Denis Vida. Working on images from the Global Fireball Observatory, a network of high-precision cameras, they calculated the trajectory of the object and found that it came from the Oort cloud.
The object, very fast, penetrated the atmosphere more deeply suggesting that it was made of rock rather than ice. Before breaking up into two phases. By crossing various studies, the researchers established that 1 to 20% of the Oort cloud might be composed of rock. There are still many unanswered questions, but this discovery may bring new information to light on elements that are still enigmatic.
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