With the Hubble telescope mounted on top of a volcano Haleakala Maui in Hawaii, astronomers have discovered in our solar asteroid system with six giant tails resembling jets water.
A photo from open sources The asteroid was first noticed in August this year, however, only recently astronomers managed to get it sharper image. Scientists said they had never before We saw a similar asteroid called P / 2013 P5. Typical asteroids usually appear as tiny dots of light, this one differs from the rest by six comet-like tails. Behind short period between September 10 and September 23, 2013 the tails of the P / 2013 P5 have changed their direction and shape. “We were literally stunned by what they saw, “said David Jevitt the researcher from the University of California. “Even more surprising is that, most likely, the tails of the asteroid are made up of dust. It’s hard to believe, that we really look at the asteroid. “Since the tails of the asteroid not all were formed at once, but in turn, scientists are sure that they appeared not as a result of a collision with another asteroid. Rather In total, dust tails formed due to pressure, caused by asteroid radiation, and because of its low gravity they spinning faster and faster. Researchers believe that by The asteroid P / 2013 P5 is unique in nature. Currently P / 2013 P5 only lost a fraction of its mass, from about 100 to 1000 tons of dust, which is its tiny part. Although most likely P / 2013 P5 is not a victim of a recent collision, scientists think that an asteroid is one of the fragments of much larger the size of a cosmic body, disintegrated about 200 million years back. Based on a thorough analysis of previous fragments the asteroid that ended up in Earth’s orbit, scientists are sure that there is no water on the asteroid.
Water Telescope
