A family of asteroids that share the orbit of Mars may be pieces of the major planet itself throw into infinite after an impact , a study has revealed . And they may represent an alluring target for remote-controlled or even manned missions .
The trojan asteroid of Mars are those that either track or sit in front of the major planet in its orbit , similar to the Jupiter Dardanian . Their origin has been abit of a mystery , however , with some proposing they occur from the asteroid knock and others saying they come forthwith fromother impacts .
This newspaper , lead by David Polishook from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and published inNature Astronomy , supports the latter theory .
They count at seven of the nine trojan asteroids that belong to a cluster called Eureka , key after the largest asteroid in that group , 5261 constantan . This clump was thought to have formed about 1 billion class ago , although the rocks themselves may have originated from the dawn of the Solar System .
In their paper , the team propose that this cluster may be bear upon debris from the Martian mantel . This is based on an olivine - robust composition , which is uncommon on asteroids but common in the large shock catchment area on Mars . Meteorites known to hail from Mars are also known to have a similar composition .
“ Using mathematical feigning , we show that the Mars Trojans are more probable to be impingement ejecta from Mars than appropriate olivine - rich asteroid transported from the chief [ asteroid ] belt , ” the team writes .
on the nose what kind of impact this would have been is n’t clear . But they take down it may have been standardised to the giant wallop that induce the huge depression cover most of the northerly hemisphere of Mars , recognize as theBorealis basin . The object that caused this basin is estimated to have been 1,600 to 2,700 kilometers ( 990 to 1,680 mile ) across .
The only job is how this impact cloth would have got into a trojan orbit , train or lead the planet . The researchers declare oneself this may be the result of “ jump ” in the orbit of Mars , because of the gravitational pull of other satellite during its formation .
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the research , if support , is that these asteroid present a much more uncomplicated destination to natter than Mars itself . So if we wanted to return a sample of Mars to Earth , we could chit-chat one of these trojan asteroids , rather than land on the planet . A mission to Jupiter ’s trojans , calledLucy , is presently in the works .
