[meteorite-list] Massive collision between two asteroids

From: Robert Verish <bolidechaser_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:00:27 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <270470.53631.qm_at_web51702.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

When I give presentations to groups about meteorites, I often get asked this question, "After all this time, what would cause an asteroid to depart from its orbital confines in the "asteroid belt" and to end up crossing the Earth's orbit?"

Now I can give a graphical answer by pointing to the (new) images in this most recent article:
-- Bob V.

<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1320385/Asteroid-collision-90million-miles-Earth-caught-NASA-camera.html>

Massive collision between two asteroids 90million miles from Earth caught on camera for first time

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:23 PM on 14th October 2010


The aftermath of a huge collision between two asteroids from the same batch of space rocks which wiped out the dinosaurs has been captured by NASA scientists.

They slammed into each other at about 11,000mph - creating an explosion as powerful as a small atomic bomb - 90 million miles away from earth.

The cosmic pile-up between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter is the first ever witnessed and could lead to new ways of preventing another asteroid slamming into our planet.

Astronomer David Jewitt, of the University of California at Los Angeles, said the Hubble images suggest the encounter happened in February or March 2009 and are the first snapshots of the aftermath of an asteroid smash.

The main rock, dubbed P/2010 A2, was believed to be a comet when it was first discovered, complete with tail, in January 2010.

But new research published in Nature confirms suggestions it is really an asteroid which were prompted by its 'headless' appearance.

Prof Jewitt said: 'We thought that this event had just occurred. We expected the debris field to expand dramatically, like shrapnel flying from a hand grenade.

'So we rushed to apply for Hubble time to watch the aftermath. But what happened was quite the opposite. We found that the object is expanding very, very slowly and that it started not a week, but nearly a year before our January observations.'
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1320385/Asteroid-collision-90million-miles-Earth-caught-NASA-camera.html#ixzz12RZ7XVtC
Received on Fri 15 Oct 2010 12:00:27 PM PDT