The magic of the little ones
The magic of the little ones
Why are we so interested in exploring asteroids, comets and all kinds of tiny worlds?
The recent news about the missions Hayabusa 2 Y Osiris-Rex, very similar in their objectives, plus the confirmation of the launch of Lucy, a probe to the Trojans of Jupiter, plus the next meeting of the New Horizons with MU69 in the new year, the adventure of Dawn in Vesta Y Ceres or the trip of Rosetta, are some examples of the tremendous interest generated by the smaller worlds of the Solar System. Given this scenario it is inevitable to ask the reason for so much fixation on them. Is it worth the effort? Let's see the reasons, what we can learn from them and why they want to explore in its entirety.
1) Building blocks: The Solar System as we know it today, was born from dust grains (small particles of rock, metal and ice) that formed a large protoplanetary disk around the young Sun. Asteroids and comets are considered the remains little or nothing altered of those original elements, those that survived without integrating into the formation of a planet or avoiding spiraling towards our star."Asteroids, comets and other small bodies maintain the material since the birth of the solar system. If we want to know where we came from, we should study these objects",Explain
Lori Glaze, from NASA's Planetary Science Division.
A spectacular example of them are the discoveries of Dawn. So, while Vesta It is mostly dry, Ceres It contains a lot of water. The presence of ammonia in the latter is also interesting, since it generally requires lower temperatures than its current location. This indicates that it could have been formed beyond Jupiter and migrate, or at least incorporate materials that originated further from the Sun. The mystery of its origins shows how complex the planetary formation can be.
And in the confines, New Horizons is prepared to face his encounter with MU69 or Ultima Thule, which could be an example of the most primitive, unaltered material that exists today, since its circular orbit suggests that it should not have moved from that area since its birth. "It is incredibly valuable to understand the origin of our solar system and its planets"Explains Alan Stern."It's ancient and pristine, and it's like nothing we've seen before"
2) Vital elements: Although they are small and inert bodies, they contain all the elements necessary for life, which can germinate when they are "delivered" to larger worlds and suitable conditions. Is what possibly happened with the land
and why it is so important to know them thoroughly. "Small bodies are what change the game. They participate in the slow and constant evolution of our Solar System over time and influence planetary atmospheres and opportunities for life. The Earth is part of that story", Explains the chief scientist of NASA, Jim Green.
Bennu, goal of the OSIRIS-REx, it is an example, since it could be loaded with carbon and water molecules, which are necessary for life as we know it. The same thing that the Hyabusa 2 in Ryugu.
3) A long lost history: Most of the material that formed our Solar System, including the land, did not live to tell it. Rushing towards the Sun or expelled to the confines, disappeared from our horizons. Only a small fraction survived to form the planets, amid the chaos that seemed to dominate those first moments, where the migration of the giant planets led to total chaos.
The so-called Trojan asteroids of Jupiter could help resolve the details of that turbulent period, and accompany him on his journey around the Sun. One could imagine that they are similar to each other, made of the same material, but nothing is further from reality, as their different colors denote. Some
are much more red than others and may have originated beyond the
orbit of Neptune, while the grayer ones may have done it much closer to the Sun. The main theory currently accepted is that when
Jupiter moved, these objects were grouped in their points
of Lagrange
The diversity of the Trojans, believe that scientists, reflects the journey of Jupiter up to your current location."Are
the remnants of what happened the last time the planet moved"Explains Hal Levison, a researcher at the Southwest Research Institute. That is why there is a great interest in studying them closely, which is why the probe will be launched Lucy.
4) Stages of evolution: What we know as "zodiacal light" is an indication that our Solar System is still active and detecting it around other stars indicates that it can also house planetary systems. And more than we can believe, since about 100 tons of material meteorite and dust fall to the land everyday. A part comes from comets, whose activity has direct implications for the evolution of our planet, since they are authentic biological treasure chests. For example, the probe Stardust, that flew over the comet 81P / Wild, found amino acids, which are basic components of life.
Not only that, since comets they also influence the planetary movement today. TO
measure Jupiter continues to launch kites to the outside,
moves slightly inward due to the resulting gravitational dance. Neptune, meanwhile, it throws comets inwards and, in turn, receives a small push outwards. Uranus Y Saturn They are also moving very slowly in this process. A tiny movement, since there are very few if compared to what
It existed several billion years ago, but that allows us to make an idea of how they could affect the Solar System at birth.
Comets, within the realm of small worlds, are extremely valuable to astronomers. Rosetta It was a spectacular mission, but it was not the first nor will it be the last.
5) Threats: Bennu is one of the potentially dangerous asteroids for land that is currently known. The observations of OSIRIS-REx they will help scientists better understand what it takes to deflect one in an impact trajectory. "We are developing a large number of technologies to operate precisely around these types of bodies and pointing to locations on their surfaces, in addition to characterizing their general physical and chemical properties. I would need this information if I wanted to design an asteroid mission deviation"Said Dante Lauretta, principal investigator of the mission OSIRIS-REx, based at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Could one deviate on a collision route? The mission DART will try to discover it in Didymos, a binary asteroid. The largest body is about 800 meters wide, with a small moon measuring less than 150 meters. DART it will deliberately crash into the moon to slightly change the orbital velocity of the small object. The telescopes in the land They will measure this change in speed, which is expected to be a change of less than a fraction of one percent. But even that small change could be enough to make a lethal meteoric projectile deviate enough to dodge our planet.
In summary, and as we see, there are plenty of reasons why exploring the family of the minor bodies of our planet system is so attractive to the scientific community. And it is that if one is able to overcome the logical fascination that means to reach other planets and their moons, in their shadow there are an infinity of small travelers whose history, although at first glance they do not shine so much, can be equally fascinating.
Comets are part of the family of "remains" of the Solar System, which remained after it stabilized. Today we know that they are much more than dirty snowballs, and that reaching them implies access to the past itself, loaded with all kinds of organic substances, volatile elements and water.
Jupiter's Toyanos are varied, more than one would expect to have a common origin. Lucy will explore them closely, looking in their differences for clues as to how the Jovian giant moved with time.
New Horizons is weeks away from meeting Ultima Thule, who promises to be, in the words of Alan Ster, a pristine fragment of origins, something never seen before.
The asteroid Psychees something special, practically a body made of metal, and which is believed to be the ancient heart of a greater world already destroyed. The probe of the same name will explore it, and for geologists it will be a unique opportunity to explore what we can only study in indirect ways.
Can we divert an asteroid on a collision route? Dart will test this possibility, trying to collide the same against the minor elements of the binary asteroid Didymos
Cosmic Detective Work: Why We Care About Space Rocks
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