Astronomers find first carbon-rich asteroid in Kuiper Belt
Washington, May 10: Astronomers have discovered an unusual carbon-rich asteroid in the Kuiper Belt -- the first of its kind to be confirmed in the cold outer reaches of the solar system.
This object, designated 2004 EW95, likely formed in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and has been flung billions of kilometres from its origin to its current home in the Kuiper Belt, the study said.
The researchers found that the asteroid's reflectance spectrum -- the specific pattern of wavelengths of light reflected from an object -- was different to that of similar small Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), which typically have uninteresting, featureless spectra that reveal little information about their composition.
"The reflectance spectrum of 2004 EW95 was clearly distinct from the other observed outer Solar System objects," explained lead author Tom Seccull of Queen's University Belfast in Britain
"It looked enough of a weirdo for us to take a closer look," Seccull added.
Theoretical models of the early days of our solar system predict that after the gas giants formed they rampaged through the solar system, ejecting small rocky bodies from the inner solar system to far-flung orbits at great distances from the Sun.
In particular, these models suggest that the Kuiper Belt -- a cold region beyond the orbit of Neptune -- should contain a small fraction of rocky bodies from the inner solar system, such as carbon-rich asteroids, referred to as carbonaceous asteroids.
The new study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, presented evidence for the first reliably-observed carbonaceous asteroid in the Kuiper Belt, providing strong support for these theoretical models of our solar system's troubled youth.
After measurements from multiple instruments at European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), the team of astronomers was able to measure the composition of the object.
The results suggest that it originally formed in the inner solar system and must have since migrated outwards.
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Theatre stampede: Allegations against me false, says Allu Arjun on Telangana CM's comments
Hyderabad, Dec 21: Actor Allu Arjun on Saturday said the incident in which a woman died and her son was hospitalised at a theatre here where 'Pushpa-2' was screened on December 4 was purely an accident and denied the allegations made by Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on the roadshow.
Hours after Reddy slammed the actor for holding a roadshow and waving to the crowds at the theatre, without referring to anyone, the 'Pushpa 2' star refuted the allegations and said it was not a procession or a roadshow.
"There is a lot of misinformation that I behaved in a particular way. These are wrong allegations. It’s humiliating and a character assassination. There is a lot of misinformation going on, a lot of false allegations, especially character assassination," he told reporters in a hurriedly held press conference.
Describing the death of the woman as an accident, he said he was not blaming anyone as it is an unfortunate incident.
A 35-year-old woman died and her eight-year-old son was hospitalised on December 4 during a stampede-like situation at the Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad when thousands of fans jostled to have a glimpse of the actor at the premiere of the blockbuster 'Pushpa 2'.
Following the incident, the city police registered a case against Allu Arjun, his security team, and the theatre management under different sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Chikkadpally police station based on the complaint lodged by the deceased woman's family.
Allu Arjun was arrested by the city police in connection with the death of the woman on December 13. The Telangana High Court granted him a four-week interim bail on the same day and he was released from a prison here on December 14 morning.
