Suspected Asteroid Collision Leaves Odd X-Pattern of Trailing Debris
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 - 15:56
in Astronomy & Space
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has imaged a mysterious X-shaped debris pattern and trailing streamers of dust that suggest a head-on collision between two asteroids. Astronomers have long thought that the asteroid belt is being ground down through collisions, but such a smashup has never before been seen.