The object known as 288P was one of the most curious projectors of the asteroid belt. But after a while trying to figure out what it was, we finally knew that it was not just one object, but two: a pair of asteroids in orbit. The two asteroids have tails, marking a beautiful circle.
Binary asteroids are not unusual, although the fact that 288P components are one kilometer in diameter is less common, as is their large separation. However, the real interest comes last year, when he observed that P released a cloud of water vapor when its orbit approached the sun.
"We have detected strong evidence of the sublimation of water ice because of the increased heat from the sun, similar to the creation of a comet's tail," says Dr. Jessica Agarwal of the Institute Max Plank for solar system research. The objects that orbit the asteroid belt and the surface ice that vaporize as they approach the Sun are quite common.
Twelve kites were known before 288P, but none had been identified as binary. The speed at which objects struggle with each other can be used to reveal their mass, which together with their measurements could give us an idea of the composition of 288P.
The same expert and other authors of an article in Nature believe that the 288P was a unique object that turned so fast that in the last five years it ended up being broken. This created twinned asteroids and the inner ice cores were exposed to sunlight.
The question of whether the Earth's water comes from comets dates back to Newton, and the comets on the belt between Mars and Jupiter may contain the answer. This problem is considered so important that a team of astronomers recently proposed to create the Castalia mission, to explore such objects.