(ORDO NEWS) — An international research group, which included not only astronomers, but also geologists, using the method of infrared spectroscopy, discovered a class of asteroids previously unknown to science.
A distinctive feature of these cosmic bodies is their saturation with water.
Researchers have identified an unknown class of cosmic bodies that are located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
The study showed that these are asteroids, but they, like the dwarf planet Ceres, turned out to be rich in water.
Computer simulations have shown that complex dynamic processes have moved these asteroids from the outer regions of our solar system into today’s asteroid belt.
With an equatorial diameter of about 900 kilometers, Ceres is the largest object in this belt, and many other minor planets also rotate there.
“These are the remains of building materials from which the planets of our solar system were created four and a half billion years ago,” explains Professor Mario Triloff from the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Heidelberg.
“In these small bodies and their fragments, meteorites, we find numerous relics, pointing directly to the formation of planets.
One of the popular theories says that water could get to Earth precisely with the help of small celestial bodies that arrived from the outer part of the solar system.
That is, it could also be asteroids of a newly discovered class. By the way, measurements carried out in the infrared spectrum showed that the diameter of water-rich asteroids does not exceed 100 kilometers.
Currently, they are located in a closed space between Mars and Jupiter near the orbit of Ceres.
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