An iernational team of scieists has managed to ideify the origin of 70% of all known meteorites. The discovery suggests that these meteorites originate from three young asteroid families formed by rece collisions in the main asteroid belt.
According to Tekna Technology Media’s astronomy news service, based on this research, three major collisions in the asteroid belt occurred 5.8, 7.5, and about 40 million years ago, respectively. These collisions have scattered large chunks of asteroids that eveually became new asteroid families. Scieists have found that three families of young asteroids, Carin, Coronis and Massalia, coribute the most to the formation of meteorites. In particular, the Massalia family alone accous for 37% of all known meteorites.
Young asteroid families coain many small fragmes due to rece collisions. Due to their fast moveme and multiple collisions, these fragmes have a higher probability of leaving the asteroid belt and eering the Earth’s atmosphere. To reach this discovery, scieists used a combination of telescopic observations, computer simulations and chemical analysis of meteorites. This method has allowed them to map the family tree of meteorites and asteroids and ideify the origin of many of them.
This research not only helps to better understand the origin of meteorites, but also allows scieists to trace the origin of large and dangerous asteroids. This information is very importa for designing space missions and protecting the Earth from asteroid impacts. Despite this great progress, 10% of meteorites still have an unknown origin. Scieists plan to answer this question by focusing on younger asteroid families.
This discovery shows that the history of asteroid collisions played a very importa role in the formation of the solar system and the arrival of meteorites on Earth. By coinuing research in this field, scieists will gain a deeper understanding of the origin and evolution of the solar system.
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