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Moon Heist
According to a new study, part of Earth’s Moon may be in orbit around Mars.
There is an asteroid in an eccentric orbit of Mars called (101429) 1998 VF31, which scientists at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium (AOP) in Northern Ireland have now determined to have a strikingly similar spectrographic reading to the Moon, according to a press release. After being blown away by some sort of ancient collision in orbit, they suspect 101429 was instead trapped by the gravitational pull of Mars.
Ancestry report
The AOP team’s research, published in the journal Icarus, found that the chemical signatures of asteroid 101429 are extremely similar to our moon, suggesting that it was moved during the solar system’s prehistoric times.
“The spectrum of this particular asteroid seems to be almost a wake-up call for parts of the Moon where there is exposed bedrock such as the interior of craters and mountains,” AOP researcher Galin Borizov said in the release. .
Missing record
The study does not rule out the possibility that the asteroid is actually a fragment of Martian rock or an asteroid that appears to be very similar to the Moon, but the resemblance to our moon is hard to ignore. And our solar system’s turbulent past makes it possible that our Moon fragmented after being hit by a collision.
“The early solar system was very different from the place we see today,” AOP astronomer Apostolos Christou said in the statement. “The space between the newly formed planets was full of debris and collisions were the order of the day. Large asteroids were constantly hitting the moon and other planets. “
READ MORE: Mars is the shepherd to our moon’s long-lost twin, AOP scientists discover [Armagh Observatory and Planetarium]
More about the moon: The moon is getting cellular service
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