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Hubble Witnesses Mysterious Breakup of Asteroid

Posted by samzenpus on from the it's-not-you-it's-me dept.

astroengine writes "Hubble has observed some weird things since it was launched in 1990, but this is probably one of the strangest. In September 2013, the Catalina and Pan-STARRS sky surveys spotted a mysterious object in the asteroid belt, a region of rocky debris that occupy the space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Follow-up observations by the Keck Observatory in Hawaii resolved three separate objects within the fuzzy cloud. It was so strange that Hubble mission managers decided to use the space telescope to get a closer look. And what they saw has baffled and thrilled astronomers in equal measure. 'This is a really bizarre thing to observe — we've never seen anything like it before,' said co-author Jessica Agarwal of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany. 'The break-up could have many different causes, but the Hubble observations are detailed enough that we can actually pinpoint the process responsible.'"

46 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. ITS HAPPENING by Moheeheeko · · Score: 4, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new asteroid pulverizing overlords.

    1. Re:ITS HAPPENING by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      In Soviet Russia, asteroids pulverize you!

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      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    2. Re:ITS HAPPENING by Cryacin · · Score: 2

      So an Anaconda crashed into an asteroid and blew it up. He had insurance.

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      Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    3. Re:ITS HAPPENING by Dishwasha · · Score: 2

      So.....you're welcoming...solar wind? The sun? I don't know how long you've been here, but the sun and its wind have been around for quite some time. Or did you just not RTFA?

  2. Aliens by nurb432 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Simple industrial ( mining ) accident. I wonder of they have their own version of OSHA.

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    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:Aliens by gadget+junkie · · Score: 2

      Simple industrial ( mining ) accident. I wonder of they have their own version of OSHA.

      Nah, the actual event would be obscured by an insane amount of paperwork.

      --
      "If a boss demands loyalty, give him integrity. But if he demands integrity, give him loyalty." (John Boyd, 1927-1997)
    2. Re:Aliens by ackthpt · · Score: 1

      Nope, no OSHA, no patents, no trademarks. They're also so advanced that we look like dirt. When they finally do come here to do trade with us they'll laugh at our backward ways, all the time our Legions o' Lawyers try to find some means of making them do business our way, despite them having everything we want and us having nothing they want (aside from puree of Bieber.)

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    3. Re:Aliens by Bigbutt · · Score: 1

      That's what the cloud is. Paper.

      [John]

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      Shit better not happen!
    4. Re:Aliens by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Likely, we'll be mined. Why get so many little asteroids, when they could mine a larger planet? Whether it's water, gold, nitrogen, or whatever.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    5. Re:Aliens by beanpoppa · · Score: 1

      Because it's a lot easier to escape the gravity well of an asteroid.

    6. Re:Aliens by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      The future, according to sci fi is either material poor or energy poor, and not both. So if they want our minerals, they don't have any issue with leaving our gravity well.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    7. Re:Aliens by rolfwind · · Score: 1

      Too bad scifi is wrong on both counts. We have a lot of both. Just maybe not on earth itself.

    8. Re:Aliens by mikael · · Score: 1

      The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter has more material than any of the inner planets. It's a fascinating debate as to they ever were part of a single planet, or never coalesced into a single object due to the gravitational perturbation of Jupiter (any large planetlets would have been thrown out of orbit).

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    9. Re:Aliens by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      I though the total sum of the asteroid belt mass is less than the earth.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    10. Re:Aliens by Guest316 · · Score: 1

      Simple industrial ( mining ) accident. I wonder of they have their own version of OSHA.

      And by OSHA, you mean MSHA.

  3. Wasn't mysterious by geekoid · · Score: 2, Funny

    There friends have seen it coming for weeks.

    heh

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    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  4. My guess? by oodaloop · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Millennium Falcon crashed. The odds of successfully navigating an asteroid belt are...well, they're not good, let's just leave it at that.

    --
    Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    1. Re:My guess? by BenJeremy · · Score: 1

      More likely Jango Fett detonated a concussion missile to try and kill the Jedi on his trail.

    2. Re:My guess? by Minwee · · Score: 1

      Don't make me do this to everyone.

    3. Re:My guess? by oodaloop · · Score: 3, Funny

      That doesn't make any sense, since it would have to have taken in place in some sort of prequel, which was never made.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
  5. someone call Tsoukalos by SuperBanana · · Score: 1

    We all know the truth.

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    Please help metamoderate.
  6. Three words by IWantMoreSpamPlease · · Score: 1

    Alien asteroid mining.

    'nuff said.

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    So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
  7. Three more words by geekoid · · Score: 3, Funny

    Your post was five words.

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    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  8. King Ghidora by Arkiel · · Score: 2

    "The images clearly showed a golden three-headed space dragon emerge from the cloud of debris. The eerie, high-pitched laughter of an alien demon filled the NASA command center before a bolt of gold space-lightning took out the Hubble telescope."

    1. Re:King Ghidora by cbhacking · · Score: 1

      Aww... when you said "three-headed dragon" I was hoping you were talking about Dahak.

      (Link to legal free copies of the books, because they're awesome like that: http://baencd.thefifthimperium... No personal association)

      --
      There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
  9. Some asteroids ... by PPH · · Score: 5, Informative

    ... have the structural integrity of a dust bunny.

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    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Some asteroids ... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Shouldn't a loosely-associated cluster of crap have a different name from a solid object? Or should that just wait until we can reliably tell the difference remotely

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  10. /. is dead by Nimey · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Someone really felt the need to explain what the asteroid belt is.

    --
    Hail Eris, full of mischief...

    E pluribus sanguinem
    1. Re:/. is dead by wvmarle · · Score: 1

      You forgot to mention the part where they completely left out the YORP effect, which is blamed for the desintegration of the object...

    2. Re:/. is dead by theotherbastard · · Score: 1

      You forgot to mention the part where they completely left out the YORP effect, which is blamed for the desintegration of the object...

      "I sound my barbaric YORP over the roofs of the world."

      --
      Buttons aren't toys.
    3. Re:/. is dead by Nimey · · Score: 1

      I put on my YORP and wizard hat.

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
  11. They are (almost) here.... by flyonthewall · · Score: 2

    Another obstacle removed on Vogon's galactic highway clearing.

    Not much time left here...

    --
    "The avalanche has already started. It's too late for the pebbles to vote." - Kosh
  12. Ah, by no-body · · Score: 2

    one can see those effects on freeways.
    Round truck tire carcasses on the roadside.

    Mysterious reason:

    Rotational forces overcome structural integrity and thing goes bust.

    Maybe use Hubble to zoom in on one of those smoking tires and document the event?

  13. Absolutely nothing happened today in Sector 83 ... by DeadDecoy · · Score: 4, Funny

    I repeat absolutely nothing happened today in Sector 83 by 9 by 12. Please go about your day.

  14. The Port Authority by Latent+Heat · · Score: 2

    "I think its time for some 'traffic problems' in the Asteroid Belt."

  15. Better Picture by linebackn · · Score: 5, Funny

    That site is really script heavy, here is a direct link to a clearer picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi...

  16. Global Warming by ScentCone · · Score: 1

    I drove my SUV to the same Home Depot three times this week while fixing a plumbing problem. QED

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  17. Thanks, Captain "Unnecessary Explanation" by Buck+Feta · · Score: 1

    the asteroid belt, a region of rocky debris that occupy the space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

    Oh, that's what the asteroid belt is.

    --
    I am Audience.
  18. ...and enhance! by Dutchmaan · · Score: 4, Funny

    > - - - - - `( ).

    Player 1 SCORE: 150

  19. Re:Absolutely nothing happened today in Sector 83 by Minwee · · Score: 1

    No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a Boom tomorrow.

  20. Relevant SMBC by danhaas · · Score: 1

    How nasa should handle announcementsÃ

    http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id...

    SMBC is becoming almost as relevant as xkcd...

    1. Re:Relevant SMBC by davewoods · · Score: 1

      As it should. SMBC is just as funny as XKCD, and he posts more often!

  21. Maybe they just weren't right for each other by OglinTatas · · Score: 1

    Mysterious breakup indeed

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    More music, fewer hits
  22. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  23. Headline by RivenAleem · · Score: 1

    "We should see other celestial bodies"

  24. Re:Sounds like a bad explanation by davewoods · · Score: 1

    Or if it was in motion, breaking up via centripetal forces would cause it to spread in all directions, but mostly in the direction it was traveling. (Given enough speed)