An Asteroid Trailing After Mars Could Actually be the Stolen Twin of Our Moon
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RandomFactor:
An Asteroid Trailing After Mars Could Actually Be The Stolen Twin of Our Moon:
A distant asteroid trailing in the gravitational wake of Mars has been observed in greater detail than ever before, and the close-up reveals a surprising resemblance - one that raises some interesting questions about the object's ancient origins.
The asteroid in question, called (101429) 1998 VF31, is part of a group of trojan asteroids sharing the orbit of Mars.
Trojans are celestial bodies that fall into gravitationally balanced regions of space in the vicinity of other planets, located 60 degrees in front of and behind the planet.
[...] What makes (101429) 1998 VF31 (hereafter '101429') interesting is that among the Red Planet's trailing trojans (the ones that follow behind Mars as it orbits the Sun), 101429 appears to be unique.
[...] 101429 is different, though, and in a new study led by astronomers from the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium (AOP) in Northern Ireland, researchers wanted to examine why.
[...] "The spectrum of this particular asteroid seems to be almost a dead-ringer for parts of the Moon where there is exposed bedrock such as crater interiors and mountains," explains AOP astrochemist Galin Borisov.
While we can't be sure yet why that is, the researchers say it's plausible that this Martian trojan's origins began somewhere far removed from the Red Planet, with 101429 representing a "relic fragment of the Moon's original solid crust".
[...] It's a captivating idea, but the researchers say it's not the only explanation for 101429's past. It's also possible, and perhaps more likely, that the trojan instead represents a fragment of Mars chipped off by a similar kind of incident impacting the Red Planet; or it might just be a commonplace asteroid that, through the weathering processes of solar radiation, ended up looking just like the Moon.
Journal Reference:
Apostolos A. Christou, Galin Borisova, Aldo Dell'Oro, Alberto Cellino, Maxime Devogele,Composition and origin of L5 Trojan asteroids of Mars: Insights from spectroscopy, Icarus (DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113994)
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