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Scientists retrace asteroid’s long one-way trip to Earth
An international team of scientists has reconstructed the 22-million-year journey of an asteroid through the Solar System to its impact on Earth.
The research on the flight path of the asteroid, which landed in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana on 2 June 2018, is the first time that scientists have precisely mapped a meteorite’s voyage to Earth.
The breakthrough offers new insights into the Solar System’s ancient past, including a better understanding of its second-largest asteroid and the only one visible to the naked eye.
NASA Ames Research Center and the SETI Institute in the US led the international research, which involved scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) and Curtin University in Western Australia.
Scientists have recreated the 22 million year journey of a 5.7 tonne asteroid
It s the first time scientists have precisely mapped an asteroid s voyage to Earth
The research will help scientists understand the make up of dangerous asteroids
Scientists believe 2018LA broke off from 4 Vesta about 22 million years ago
Grains found in 4 Vesta and 2018LA date back further than 4.5 billion years ago
23 APRIL 2021
The asteroid2018 LA crashed into Earth in the Kalahari Desert on 2 June 2018 – and now scientists have been able to trace it back 22 million years to the place where it originated from.
This is the first time a meteorite s entire voyage to Earth has been charted in this way, and it s only the second time that we ve ever had the opportunity to observe an asteroid in space before it enters the atmosphere and becomes a meteor.
Based on those early observations, analysis of the recovered meteorite fragments, and various other factors, a new study pinpoints the origin of 2018 LA as Vesta – the Solar System s second largest asteroid and the only one that can sometimes be seen from Earth with the naked eye.
Scientists track asteroid as it hits Earth mcivortimes.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mcivortimes.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Scientists Map 22-Million-Year Long Journey of an Asteroid to Earth It marks the first time researchers map out the entire journey of an asteroid which hit Earth in 2018. The fragment analyses of 2018LA indicated that it was buried beneath asteroid Vesta s surface (pictured). NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
An asteroid known as 2018LA came crashing down into the Kalahari Desert in Botswana on June 2, 2018. Now, for the first time, a team of scientists has put together a meteorite s entire journey from its location in our Solar System to the moment it hits Earth. This particular journey took 22-million-years.
It also marks only the second time that scientists have observed an asteroid in space before it becomes a meteorite as it enters our Earth s atmosphere.