Our Solar System is a collection of objects from planets and moons to comets and asteroids. It’s thought there are upwards of 1 million asteroids orbiting the Sun and it was thought that any water present on them should have evaporate long ago. A recent study using data from the SOFIA infrared telescope discovered water on the asteroids Iris and Massalia.  Among the million or so asteroids‚ Iris is 199 km in diameter making it larger than about 99% of other asteroids. It orbits the Sun within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter at an average distance of 2.39 astronomical units taking 3.7 years to complete one orbit.  Massalia is of comparable in size to Iris coming in at 135 km across and shares an orbit similar to that of Iris.  Asteroids across the Solar System vary a little in composition and structure. Nearer to the Sun the Silicate asteroids devoid of ice dominate yet further out‚ icy asteroids are more common. Exploring the distribution of the asteroids helps to understand the composition and transfer of elements in the solar nebula before the planets and asteroids formed. If we can also understand the distribution of water too in our own system then it will help us to understand its prevalence in exoplanetary systems and the liklihood of extraterrestrial life.  Data captured by SOFIA – the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy which retired in 2022 – has revealed water on asteroids Iris and Massalia.  It’s not the first time SOFIA has made a discovery of this sort. Back in October 2020 SOFIA identify water on the Moon. Using its Faint Object InfraRed Camera (FORCAST) it detected the signature of water molecules on the surface equivalent to about 350 millilitres of water in a cubic meter of soil. The lead author on the paper‚ Dr Anicia Arredondo from the Southwest Research Institute confirmed that‚ based on the strength of the spectral lines‚ the volumes and prevalence of water on the asteroids was consistent with that found on the Moon. Here too it was locked up‚ bound to minerals as well as absorbed by silicates. Data was also analysed from two fainter asteroids‚ Parthenope and Melpomene‚ but there was too much noise to yield a conclusive result. It appears that the FORCAST instrument lacks the necessary sensitivity to identify the spectral feature of water on these asteroids‚ if indeed it was present.  Further analysis is required to fully understand the distribution of water across the Solar System but following on from the study‚ the team will now utilise the James Webb Space Telescope which has higher quality optics and a much better signal to noise ratio to learn more.  Source : SwRI Scientists Identify Water Molecules on Asteroids for the First Time The post Water Found on the Surface of an Asteroid appeared first on Universe Today.

(Natural News) Since almost nobody else in Western media seems to care about letting the man speak to the world directly‚ former Fox News host Tucker Carlson decided to interview Russian…

An Al-Jazeera journalist‚ Muhammad Washah‚ has been accused by the Israel Defense Forces of being not just a journalist‚ but also a senior operative for the terrorist Hamas organization in Gaza that butchered…

A senator from Ohio is warning voters that some Republicans in the Senate have gone along with Democrats to set up a plan to force President Donald Trump‚ if he is elected in the fall‚ to continue sending…

Join Fox News for access to this content Plus get unlimited access to thousands of articles‚ videos and more with your free account! Please enter a valid email address. By entering your email‚ you are…

For the average person‚ choosing between ducks and chickens is often a matter of personal preference‚ sometimes based on superficial factors like which one is cuter. But for preppers‚ there is another layer (no pun intended) to consider when making this decision. The question we’re really asking about chickens versus ducks is‚ “Which will be […] The post Chicken vs Duck appeared first on Ask a Prepper.

Confirmed.

A classic melody. The post The Strokes guitar riff Julian Casablancas “never liked” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.