Asteroid Tracking 2008 TC3

2009/03/26 Kortabitarte Egiguren, Irati - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Geologia

Before colliding with the Earth's atmosphere, North American astronomers have followed the trajectory of the 2008 asteroid SS3. It is the first time that, with the help of telescopes, they detect a body of this type before colliding with the Earth's atmosphere and, subsequently, locate and analyze its fragments (two in the image).

In this way, the researchers have been able to know the trajectory and chemical composition of the asteroid. On the one hand, they have seen that the asteroid is quite young — they believe it has only been a few million years in the solar system. On the other hand, they have discovered that it was made with fragile materials.

Image: Image: ANDÉN