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Comet or Asteroid?


Waspie_Dwarf

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Comet or Asteroid? Hubble Discovers that a Unique Object is a Binary

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NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope helped an international team of astronomers find that an unusual object in the asteroid belt is, in fact, two asteroids orbiting each other that have comet-like features. These include a bright halo of material, called a coma, and a long tail of dust.

Hubble was used to image the asteroid, designated 300163 (2006 VW139), in September 2016 just before the asteroid made its closest approach to the Sun. Hubble’s crisp images revealed that it was actually not one, but two asteroids of almost the same mass and size, orbiting each other at a distance of 60 miles.

arrow3.gif  Read More: HubbleSite

 

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The Hubble space telescope has unravelled the mystery of a strange asteroid which had also been classified as a comet – and which had puzzled astronomers.

Hubble was used to image the asteroid, designated 2006 VW139, in September 2016 – and the image revealed that it’s not one, but two asteroids.

The two rocks are orbiting each other at a distance of 60 miles – and behave very weirdly, the researchers say.

See  time lapsed photo's taken by Hubble.

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Perhaps such a binary killed the dinosaurs?

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15 hours ago, taniwha said:

Perhaps such a binary killed the dinosaurs?

Not possible.

The impact crater from the impact that occurred 65 million years is known, it is off the Yucatan Peninsular, Mexico and is named after the nearest town, Chicxulub. It is a single crater, a binary object would leave two craters.

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20 minutes ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

Not possible.

The impact crater from the impact that occurred 65 million years is known, it is off the Yucatan Peninsular, Mexico and is named after the nearest town, Chicxulub. It is a single crater, a binary object would leave two craters.

You are speculating that there is no other crater anywhere, so if the other crater is one day found that would prove my theory at least possible. Until that day we won't know for sure.

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6 hours ago, taniwha said:

You are speculating that there is no other crater anywhere, so if the other crater is one day found that would prove my theory at least possible. Until that day we won't know for sure.

No,you are the one making wild speculation based on a total lack of comprehension of the subject. I am using knowledge, common-sense and logic.

Firstly there is a huge difference between a scientific theory and the utterances of the clueless. You certainly don't produce the former.

Secondly the vast majority of asteroids are single not binary, therefore it is far more likely that the KT impactor would not be binary.

Thirdly a binary object would cause two craters in close proximity to each other (you do actually know what a binary object is don't you?) Since, to be binary, there must be two objects travelling closely together they would impact closely together producing two impact craters closely together. The second crater can not be hidden away at some random location a vast distance from the first.

The reason the Chicxulub crater is known about in the first place is because of extensive geological surveys off of the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula by companies searching for oil. Since they have found no second crater nearby, and since there is no other evidence of a second crater nearby the only logical conclusion, given the facts (as opposed to wild guessing by permanently clueless) is that there was only one crater formed in the KT impact.

One, single crater means no binary object... given the rarity of binary asteroids, the most likely occurrence anyway.

Edited by Waspie_Dwarf
typo.
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