A team of scientists has managed to discover two mysterious objects in the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter. These two objects appear to be loaded with organic matter, possibly similar to blocks of life on our planet, reports The New York Times.
The two rocks called 203 Pompeja and 269 Justitia, appeared glowing red in astronomical observations, far redder than any other known object in the asteroid belt. Objects that lack organic matter show more blue light, but ones that feature more organic materials appear red in observations.
Surprise for astronomers
Both asteroids are 70 and 35 miles across and could offer insights into the chaotic initial days of our solar system, billions of years ago. This is also a reminder that our cosmic neighborhood has many astonishing objects waiting to be discovered. The fact that the two objects appeared so red came across as a surprise for the researchers.
“In order to have these organics, you need to initially have a lot of ice at the surface,” MIT’s Michaël Marsset, a co-author of a paper told the NYT. “So they must have formed in a very cold environment. Then the solar irradiation of the ice creates those complex organics.”
If confirmed, the two asteroids will provide evidence of the planetary migration that happened during the early days of the solar system. One theory hints that Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune moved outwards as Jupiter moved inwards over the course of millions of years. This movement would remaining bits of planets moving across the solar system.
Nothing confirmed yet
“It’s an exciting discovery with implications for the origins of life,” said Karin Öberg from Harvard University, who was not involved in the new study. But before it is determined where the two asteroids came from, it’ll be hard to conclude anything.
In another breakthrough discovery, a team of scientists has detected a series of bright flares of X-ray light coming from behind a supermassive black hole. This phenomenon was already predicted in Einstein’s theory of general relativity but wasn’t proved until now.
