Astronomers have identified the oldest known asteroid family, which extends throughout the inner region of the main asteroid belt, using a new search technique. The main belt contains vast numbers of irregularly shaped asteroids, also known as planetesimals, orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Finding and studying asteroid families allows scientists to better understand the history of main belt asteroids. That is the real prize, to know what the main belt looked like just after it formed," he said. Identifying the very oldest asteroid families, those billions of years old, is challenging, because over time, a family spreads out, researchers said.

Source: dna August 05, 2017 06:33 UTC