• Home
  • Science
  • Technology
  • Futurism
  • Weather Extreme

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

What's Hot

Flag Media Launches New Website to Effectively Tie All Business Divisions Together

September 22, 2023

Flag Blockchain Launches Flag Recovery Initiative and the FXR Token

September 22, 2023

Flag Wallet Adds Features and Functionality to Compete with MetaMask

September 19, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
Futurist JournalFuturist Journal
Demo
  • Home
  • Science
  • Technology
  • Futurism
  • Weather Extreme
Futurist JournalFuturist Journal
Home»Latest Science»Origin of dinosaur-ending asteroid possibly found. And it’s dark.
Latest Science

Origin of dinosaur-ending asteroid possibly found. And it’s dark.

NewsBy NewsAugust 9, 2021Updated:August 9, 2021No Comments4 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Telegram Tumblr Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

A giant asteroid collided with Earth on the Yucatan Peninsula some 66 million years ago, as shown in this illustration. (Image credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)

About 66 million years ago, an estimated 6-mile-wide (9.6 kilometers) object slammed into Earth, triggering a cataclysmic series of events that resulted in the demise of non-avian dinosaurs. 

Now, scientists think they know where that object came from.

According to new research, the impact was caused by a giant dark primitive asteroid from the outer reaches of the solar system‘s main asteroid belt, situated between Mars and Jupiter. This region is home to many dark asteroids — space rocks with a chemical makeup that makes them appear darker (reflecting very little light) compared with other types of asteroids.

Related: The 5 mass extinction events that shaped the history of Earth

“I had a suspicion that the outer half of the asteroid belt — that’s where the dark primitive
asteroids are — may be an important source of terrestrial impactors,” said David Nesvorný, a researcher from the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, who led the new study. “But I did not expect that the results [would] be so definitive,” adding that this might not be true for smaller impactors. 

Clues about the object that ended the reign of non-avian dinosaurs have previously been found buried in the Chicxulub crater, a 90-mile-wide (145 km) circular scar in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula left by the object’s collision. Geochemical analysis of the crater has suggested that the impacting object was part of a class of carbonaceous chondrites — a primitive group of meteorites that have a relatively high ratio of carbon and were likely made very early on in the solar system’s history. 

Based on this knowledge, scientists have previously tried to pinpoint the impactor’s origin, but many theories have crumbled over time. Researchers have previously suggested the impactor came from a family of asteroids from the inner part of the main asteroid belt, but follow-up observations of those asteroids found they didn’t have the right composition. Another study, this one published in February in the journal Scientific Reports, suggested the impact was caused by a long-period comet, Live Science reported. But that research has since come under criticism, according to a June paper published in the journal Astronomy & Geophysics.

In the new study, published in the November 2021 issue of the journal Icarus, researchers developed a computer model to see how often main belt asteroids escape toward Earth and if such escapees could be responsible for the dinosaur-ending crash. 

Simulating over hundreds of millions of years, the model showed thermal forces and gravitational tugs from planets periodically slingshotting large asteroids out of the belt. On average, an asteroid more than 6 miles wide from the outer edge of the belt was flung into a collision course with Earth once every 250 million years, the researchers found. This calculation makes such an event five times more common than previously thought and consistent with the Chicxulub crater created just 66 million years ago, which is the only known impact crater thought to have been produced by such a large asteroid in the last 250 million years. Furthermore, the model looked at the distribution of “dark” and “light” impactors in the asteroid belt and showed half of the expelled asteroids were the dark carbonaceous chondrites, which matches the type thought to have caused Chicxulub crater.

“This is just an excellent paper,” said Jessica Noviello, NASA fellow in the postdoctoral management program at the Universities Space Research Association at Goddard Space Flight Center, who was not involved with the new research. “I think they make a good argument for why [the Chicxulub impactor] could have come from that part of the solar system.”

In addition to possibly explaining the origin of the Chicxulub crater impactor, the findings also help scientists understand the origins of other asteroids that have struck Earth further in the past. Neither of the other two largest impact craters on Earth, the Vredefort crater in South Africa and the Sudbury Basin in Canada, have known impactor origins. The results could also help scientists predict where future large impactors might originate.. 

“We find in the study that some 60% of large terrestrial impactors come from the outer half of the asteroid belt … and most asteroids in that zone are dark/primitive,” Nesvorný told Live Science. “So there is a 60% — 3 in 5 — probability that the next one will come from the same region.”

Originally published on Live Science.

Source

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
News
  • Website

Related Posts

Scientists Revive 46,000-Year-Old Worm That Was Frozen In Siberian Permafrost

July 30, 2023

There is a ‘Gravity Hole’ in the Indian Ocean. Scientists Now Think They Know Why

July 26, 2023

Century-Old Paradigm Overturned – Brain Shape Matters More Than Neural Connectivity

July 22, 2023

How fish evolved their bony, scaly armor

July 17, 2023

James Webb Telescope catches glimpse of possi

July 14, 2023

Utah’s Famously White Snow Is Getting Dusty

July 10, 2023

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Recent Posts
  • Flag Media Launches New Website to Effectively Tie All Business Divisions Together
  • Flag Blockchain Launches Flag Recovery Initiative and the FXR Token
  • Flag Wallet Adds Features and Functionality to Compete with MetaMask
  • Flag Blockchain Sets a New Standard by Forking the Popular Polygon Blockchain
  • Here’s how hot and extreme the summer has been, and it’s only halfway over
Recent Comments
    Demo
    Top Posts

    Flag Media Launches New Website to Effectively Tie All Business Divisions Together

    September 22, 2023

    A Look at the Future of More Sustainable Living and Travel

    June 5, 2021

    Germany’s patriotism paradox

    July 18, 2021
    Don't Miss

    Flag Media Launches New Website to Effectively Tie All Business Divisions Together

    September 22, 2023

    [Frisco, TX] – Flag Media, a dynamic and innovative conglomerate, is proud to announce the…

    Flag Blockchain Launches Flag Recovery Initiative and the FXR Token

    September 22, 2023

    Flag Wallet Adds Features and Functionality to Compete with MetaMask

    September 19, 2023

    Flag Blockchain Sets a New Standard by Forking the Popular Polygon Blockchain

    September 18, 2023
    Stay In Touch
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • TikTok
    • WhatsApp
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    Latest Reviews
    Demo
    Most Popular

    Flag Media Launches New Website to Effectively Tie All Business Divisions Together

    September 22, 2023

    A Look at the Future of More Sustainable Living and Travel

    June 5, 2021

    Germany’s patriotism paradox

    July 18, 2021
    Our Picks

    Flag Media Launches New Website to Effectively Tie All Business Divisions Together

    September 22, 2023

    Flag Blockchain Launches Flag Recovery Initiative and the FXR Token

    September 22, 2023

    Flag Wallet Adds Features and Functionality to Compete with MetaMask

    September 19, 2023
    Editor's Pick

    Snap Stock Price Soars on Q4 Earnings Beat, Resisting Apple Changes

    February 4, 2022

    California storm: Sonoma County announces 2nd day of school closures due to severe weather

    January 6, 2023

    Stellar nurseries may feed on spirals of stars, scientists say

    September 9, 2022
    Futurist Journal
    Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest YouTube Dribbble
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    © 2023 futuristjournal.com - All Rights Reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.