Dark Comets Discovered In Solar System
Scientists have discovered seven new objects at once that look like asteroids but behave like comets.
Scientists first discovered such an object in March 2016. Asteroid 2003 RM deviated slightly from its trajectory. In principle, asteroids can change their trajectory due to the so-called Yarkovsky effect, when a weak jet impulse arises from the heating of its sides. In the case of 2003 RM, the deviation was much stronger than the uneven heating of the asteroid by the Sun allowed. At the same time, it did not have a visible tail, which did not allow the asteroid to be classified as a comet.
By 2023, researchers had identified seven solar system objects that looked like asteroids but behaved like comets. That was enough for the astronomical community to give them their own category of celestial objects: “dark comets.” Now, with the discovery of seven more such objects, researchers have created the first classification of these objects.
“Dark comets are a new potential source for delivering materials to Earth that are essential for the development of life. The more we learn about them, the better we can understand their role in the origin of our planet,” said Darryl Seligman of the Department of Physics at Michigan State University.
