Artist's impression of the asteroid Lutetia making a close approach to a planet in the early Solar System

This artist’s impression shows an event in the early history of the Solar System that may explain how the unusual asteroid Lutetia came to now be located in the main asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. Lutetia is seen passing close to one of the very young rocky planets about four billion years ago and having its orbit drastically altered. Its unusual spectral properties indicate that Lutetia started life as a fragment of the material that was forming the inner planets but it is now found to be an interloper much further from the Sun.

Credit:

ESO/M. Kornmesser and Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org)

Over de afbeelding

Id:eso1144b
Type:Ontwerp
Publicatiedatum:11 november 2011 10:00
Gerelateerde berichten:eso1144
Grootte:3600 x 2400 px

Over het object

Naam:Asteroid (21) Lutetia
Type:Solar System : Interplanetary Body : Asteroid
Categorie:Solar System

Afbeeldingstypen

Grote JPEG
1,8 MB

Inzoomen


Achtergrond

1024x768
216,7 KB
1280x1024
366,8 KB
1600x1200
534,0 KB
1920x1200
635,5 KB
2048x1536
842,3 KB