Asteroid Bennu May be Hollow According to a New Study
upstart writes in with an IRC submission:
Asteroid Bennu may be hollow according to a new study:
Researchers from the University of Colorado announced findings based on data captured by the spacecraft in the two years it was in orbit that shows the asteroid is likely hollow. Department of aerospace engineering sciences Daniel Scheeres said it appears the void in the asteroid center could hold a couple of football fields.
[...] The team believes that the asteroid's rotation could be responsible for the void inside. Over time, Bennu's rotation is gaining speed, and they think it's in the process of spinning itself into pieces. Since the core is low density, it's easier for the entire asteroid to fall apart as it spins. Now that measurements of the gravity field of the asteroid over, the team of scientists have wrapped up their work on the OSIRIS-REx mission.
The results of their work have contributed to the plan to analyze samples that will be returned to earth by the spacecraft. The current plan will see the samples analyzed to determine the cohesion between grains, a key physical property that impacts the mass distribution observed in the study.
Related:
Asteroid Bennu Might Be Hollow and Doomed to Crumble
Nasa Data Appears to Show That Giant Asteroid is Hollow
Experts Found Cavities in Asteroid Bennu; Is It Dying?
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