COSEE Ocean Systems: News
Unique Fragment from Earth's Formation Returns after Billions of Years in Cold Storage
Description: Astronomers have found a unique object that appears to be made of inner Solar System material from the time of Earth's formation, which has been preserved in the Oort Cloud far from the Sun for billions of years. Observations show that C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) is the first object to be discovered on a long-period cometary orbit that has the characteristics of a pristine inner Solar System asteroid. It may provide important clues about how the Solar System formed. The very weak comet-like activity associated with C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS), is about a million times lower than active long-period comets at a similar distance from the Sun. [Source: ESO (European Southern Observatory)]
URL: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1614/
Availability: Full Text
Source: ESO (European Southern Observatory)
Publish Date: 4/29/2016
Reading Level: Basic
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