By combining data from ground-based telescopes and images of the Hubble space telescope, astronomers were able to detect and capture a rare phenomenon — the self-destruction of a giant asteroid named Gault. It was destroyed by the solar radiation.
Clear images from Hubble gave researchers a new understanding of the astroid Gault, an unusual past. The object is 4–9 kilometers in size and stands out against the rest of the others with narrow comet-like tails from debris, which indicate that it is slowly self-destructing. Each tail is evidence of an active event that has thrown material into space.
Asteroid Gault was discovered in 1988. It is one of the few that managed to catch in the process of decay, known as the IORP-effect. It occurs when sunlight irregularly heats the asteroid, and infrared radiation emerging from the warm side of an object carries both heat and momentum. This creates a small force that can cause the asteroid to rotate faster. As a result, if the centrifugal force begins to exceed the force of gravity, the object becomes unstable, for example, landslides start to occur on it, throwing debris and dust into space. This process, according to researchers, and captured the Hubble in the asteroid Gault.
Astronomers estimate that among the 800,000 known asteroids that inhabit the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the destruction of NORP occurs about once a year, and direct observation of this process gave astronomers a special opportunity to study the composition of asteroids. Investigating the material that this celestial rock throws into space, scientists can trace the history of the formation of planets at the dawn of the solar system.
Self-destruction of a giant asteroid Gault captured by Hubble telescope
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