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Collision of Two Asteroids Spotted For the First Time

Posted by timothy on from the delicious-space-dust dept.

sciencehabit writes "Astronomers report that a small asteroid located in the inner asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter took a major hit early last year. Previously rendered only in artists' conceptions, the first asteroid collision known in modern times revealed itself in a tail of debris streaming from what astronomers at first assumed was a comet. Instead of a steady stream of dust, however, they found boulders near the object with dust moving away from them."

2 of 31 comments (clear)

  1. Re:didn't spot collision by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'll bet she was on her cellphone and didn't even notice the damage.

  2. Duplicate? by pgn674 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Is this the same collision that was reported here on January 19, 2010: Slashdot Science Story | A Hyper-Velocity Impact In the Asteroid Belt??

    It looks like the picture is from February 2, 2010: Two asteroids suspected in space collision - Technology & science - Space - Space.com - msnbc.com

    When I clicked TFA link, I immediately recognized the image from somewhere. I think it's nice to have references to where you may have seen this before, if just to assure you that you have not gone as crazy as you may fear.