Japanese and American astronomers have discovered two strange, gigantic, and brightly red objects in the dreary space of the asteroid belt, carrying biological materials.
According to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), these new asteroids, named 203 Pompeja and 269 Justitia, resemble trans-Neptunian objects found beyond the eighth planet of the Solar System, but are redder than anything they have observed before.
Red asteroid – (Illustrative photo from New York Times).
This distinctive red color suggests that they likely originated from outside the Solar System, having begun their journey into our world from its earliest days, gradually moving to their current positions.
According to the Daily Mail, data collected from these massive space rocks also indicates that their surfaces contain complex organic materials. “To have these organic compounds, you initially need to have a lot of ice on the surface. They must form in a very cold environment, then get irradiated as they approach the Sun, leading to chemical reactions that create organic materials,” said Dr. Michael Marsser from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a member of the research team.
NASA further explains that in the early days of the Solar System, the planets were not in their current positions. Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn gradually moved outward, while Jupiter formed far away and then “moved inward” to become the fourth planet, dragging many small objects from the outer edge of the Solar System into the asteroid belt. This theory is known as the “Nice model.”
The Nice model also hypothesizes about a ninth planet in the Solar System, which may have migrated far away and could have been ejected from the Solar System, or is hiding somewhere in the dark region beyond Neptune.
JAXA believes this discovery provides new evidence that objects formed at the outer edge of the Solar System have traveled to the asteroid belt located between Jupiter and Mars, further supporting the well-known Nice model.
