MOSCOW, August 15 The asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs was rich in carbon and came from beyond Jupiter, Newsweek writes, citing Steven Goderis, a research professor of geochemistry at the Free University of Brussels.
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"The discovery allowed us to establish the origin of the impactor and obtain key information about its chemical composition. It turned out that it was a rare carbon-rich space rock that came from beyond Jupiter," the material states.
The scientist told the publication that the composition of the various asteroids most likely represents material from the inner and outer solar system, with carbonaceous rocks being further out. Current models suggest that this is due to Jupiter's rapid growth, which prevented large-scale migration of material from inside and outside its orbit.
According to Goderis, when samples from the asteroid impact site were studied, it was found that it was different from any others formed in the last 500 million years or so in which isotope ratios have been measured to date ruthenium. He noted that they all point to an internal origin of the solar system.
The results of this study, published in the journal Science, are not consistent with theories that the impact object was actually a comet made of ice and dust.