The constant bombardment of billions of tiny particles from the Sun is shaping the Solar System, studies have shown.As the fine solar shower rains down on objects, such as asteroids, it can steadily alter their orbit and spin.
Although the mechanism that describes the effect has been known for many years, it has never been seen.
Now, separate studies published in the journals Nature and Science have observed and measured the tiny stellar shoves on two spinning asteroids.
They reveal that both are gradually starting to spin faster and faster, which could eventually create new Solar System landmarks.
“If we can spin up an asteroid so fast, there’s a really good chance that these things will fly apart,” said Dr Stephen Lowry, a planetary astronomer at Queen’s University Belfast and one of the authors of the Science paper.
In this case, the fragments could form a binary asteroid where two objects orbit each other, he said.
“This is a phenomenon that gradually affects the evolution of the Solar System,” said Dr Mikko Kaasalainen of the University of Helsinki, who is an author of the Nature paper.
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“We must include this radiation effect because it can transport asteroids between different orbital states and effect their rotation,” he said.
“We now know the Solar System doesn’t just evolve due to gravitation.”
Dr Lowry also believes it is a key finding for looking back through history.
“Asteroids are the leftovers from the start of the Solar System, so by understanding these asteroids, we may get an idea of what the Solar System was like before the planets formed,” he said.
“I don’t want to call it a dawn of a new age of astronomical sciences but it will certainly spark a whole range of new studies.”
Light Cue 23
Notes from the Drafting Table
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The text of Light Cue 23 by Lucas Krech is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at lucaskrech.com.
