ASTEROID PHAETHON’S MYSTERIOUS TAIL MAY FINALLY HAVE AN EXPLANATION
The space rock, born at the birth of the Solar System, has long puzzled astronomers
Reported by Conor Feehly
For quite a while, an asteroid named Phaethon has presented astronomers with something of F a conundrum. When it passes close to the Sun during its orbit, a long tail of material can be seen leaving the rock. However, if Phaethon’s tail is the stuff of usual comets – ice and carbon dioxide – then it should be visible when the comet is as far away as Jupiter, too. But it’s not. Scientists have therefore had some theories about what Phaethon might be composed of, which could explain what trails behind when the asteroid passes by the Sun. In new research, astronomers have compared the infrared emissions of Phaethon analysed by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to emissions of meteorites in laboratories, ultimately finding that Phaethon likely belongs to a rare class of meteorite of which only six specimens are known.