Rogue Asteroids

    Published: 06-16-2009
    Views: 6,789
    A team of scientists from MIT and the Paris Observatory that were mapping asteroids found that they are not always static and remain near the sun. Some asteroids go rogue!

    Scientists at MIT and the Paris Observatory claim that rogue asteroids are more common than previously thought.  While working on a map of asteroids, these scientists say they now think the Solar System has been very dynamic.  They theorize that Jupiter once drifted very close to the sun, bringing along asteroids from the outer edges of the Solar System and displacing other asteroids that were already near the sun.  They said it’s like Jupiter bowled a strike right through the Solar System.  They also said, that this type of displacement could have once led to an icy asteroid colliding with Earth and depositing water onto our planet’s surface. They said all asteroid types exist in every region of the main belt and, through their mapping, they have discovered many asteroids in unexpected locations.