Asteroids are celestial bodies found in vast amounts in space. Astronomers are always looking into a telescope to find out if any asteroid is coming near earth. An astronomer who was just looking into the images by Hubble Telescope made a huge discovery. He saw an asteroid changing color for the very first time ever. The interesting thing is that it not just some asteroid. Its name is Asteroid 6478 Gault and it is the only asteroid in our solar system with two comet trails.
Reason for changing colors
Astronomers at MIT have given an explanation as to the reason why the asteroid changed its colors. Scientists say that asteroids ain’t supposed to be leaving two comet trails. However, Asteroid Gaunt seems to beat against the scientists’ beliefs.
The initial assumption is given by scientists for such a process is that Gault upper layer, composed mostly of dust, turned red after years of exposure to the sun and simply withered away as the asteroid spun.
The asteroid was found changing colors from red to blue.
Michael Marsett, an astronomer from MIT comments:
“This was a very big surprise. About 10% of asteroids spin very fast, meaning with a two-to-three-hour rotation period, and it’s most likely due to the sun spinning them up.”
However, there is one thing which the astronomers are pretty sure of. The asteroid Gault is rocky-unlike a comet, which normally just loose bundles of ice and dust.
Asteroid Gault was found last December and was labeled as an active asteroid due to its two comet-like trails behind it.
Well, this is the very first time that an asteroid changing color has been found. What are your views on it? Do you find it fascinating? Comment down below.
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