Exiled Asteroid Discovered in Outer Reaches of Solar System
Astronomers have found a unique and strange relic of the early Solar System deep in space...
…an exiled asteroid thrown into the outer reaches of the Solar System long ago by migrating planets.
ESO’s Very Large Telescope revealed its unique composition, even though it’s 4 billion km away from the Earth.
They found that the asteroid probably formed close to the Sun...
...and then was thrown out billions of kilometres to its current home in the Kuiper Belt.
With discoveries like this, astronomers get closer to understanding the chaotic early days of the Solar System.
Transcribed by ESO; Translated by —