Scientists from Osiris Rex Mission US space agencyNASAIt was recently discovered that surface degeneration occurs more quickly on asteroids than on Earth.
As detailed by NASA, by analyzing rock markings on asteroid Bennu from high-resolution images taken by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, the team found that heat from the sun breaks down the rocks on Bennu in just 10,000 to 100,000 years.
This information will help scientists estimate how long it takes rocks on asteroids like Bennu to break down into smaller particles, which can either be blasted off into space or remain on the asteroid’s surface.
Although landslides, volcanoes, and earthquakes can suddenly change the Earth’s surface, the changes are usually gradual. Changes in water, wind, and temperature slowly break up layers of rock, creating new surfaces over millions of years.
New details discovered by NASA about the giant asteroid Bennu
Rapid temperature changes in Bennu cause internal stress that causes rocks to crack and break, similar to the way cold glass breaks under hot water. The sun rises every 4.3 hours on Bennu.
As detailed by NASA, OSIRIS-REx scientists have detected cracks in the rocks in spacecraft images from early surveys of the asteroid.
The team manually measured the lengths and angles of more than 1,500 fractures on the OSIRIS-REx images.
They found that the fractures mostly line up in a northwest-southeast direction, suggesting that they are caused by the sun, which appears here as the main force changing Bennu’s landscape.
Also according to the information, the scientists used a computer model and fracture measurements to calculate the time frame from 10,000 to 100,000 years for thermal fractures for rock formation and splitting.
Text with information from NASA
“Web geek. Wannabe thinker. Reader. Freelance travel evangelist. Pop culture aficionado. Certified music scholar.”