Buzz
At first glance, all asteroids may seem identical and go largely unnoticed, unless one is the source of an extinction-level event in a movie. However, these ancient space giants continue to surprise astronomers with their mysterious origins, strange behaviors, and their profound impacts on nearby planets. In recent years, scientists have uncovered unique features, extreme weather patterns, and incredible individual asteroids that even experts never saw coming.
10. Towers Inside Craters
In 2016, a team of researchers set out to examine cosmic impacts on other planets. They focused on the Chicxulub crater located on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Believed to be the remnant of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, this crater contained a unique characteristic that made it an ideal subject for studying impacts on other worlds.
Known as 'peak rings,' these towering hills form a circle around the center of large craters. While they can be found across the solar system, they are only present on Earth in one location: the massive impact that left a 180-kilometer (110 mi) wide scar in the Yucatan Peninsula. This 65-million-year-old relic provided a rare chance to study the formation of these structures, revealing how asteroids can cause catastrophic and dramatic changes to the landscape.
The collision was so powerful it nearly breached Earth's crust, causing the soil to act like a thick liquid. Within moments, deeply buried granite rock was ejected, soaring upward like a droplet in water when an object is dropped into it. This rising center reached an impressive height of about 15 kilometers (9 mi) before collapsing back down, forming a ring of towering peaks.
9. Tornadoes on Mars
Asteroid impacts can stir up extreme weather, not only on Earth but elsewhere. One example of this is the formation of terrifying tornadoes on ancient Mars. Scientists made this discovery when they analyzed images from NASA, revealing odd streaks on the Martian surface.
The streaks marked the surface near large craters and were only detectable in thermal infrared during the cold Martian nights. To understand the cause of these peculiar surface markings, scientists created a simulated environment in a laboratory.
It was discovered that asteroids occasionally struck the red planet. After these asteroids disintegrated and vaporized material from the surface, air was expelled from the crater at supersonic speeds. Traveling faster than 800 kilometers per hour (500 mph), these plumes skimmed just above the surface.
Wherever the flow encountered elevated terrain, it created funnels with the force of an F8 tornado. These scattered storms were responsible for the unusual streaks, as they stripped the ground clean, leaving behind distinct trails. This wind phenomenon on Mars is exclusive to asteroid impacts and will not happen again until the next one arrives.
8. The Olivine Trojans
Mars is home to several asteroids that share its orbit. These are known as Trojans, and they exist in groups or 'families' that also surround other planets, most notably a collection of 6,000 near Jupiter.
Mars' Trojans are special. So far, nine have been discovered, and they are the only ones in a stable planetary orbit. They also cluster together in a way that is unmatched elsewhere in the solar system. Eight of them maintain the same distance from Mars, forming the “Eureka family,” named after the asteroid at the heart of the group.
In 2016, scientists set out to investigate whether there was a shared link between the Mars Trojans, using a spectrometer to study three of them, including Eureka. By analyzing the sunlight reflecting off their surfaces, they could determine their chemical makeup.
The color spectra of the asteroids turned out to be identical, which is already a rare finding among asteroids. Even more intriguing, they were largely composed of olivine. This mineral suggests that the group could be the remnants of the inner mantle of a mini-planet that was destroyed long ago.
7. The Clovis Killer
When researchers discovered an unusually high concentration of platinum at sites associated with the Clovis culture, they began to suspect that a long-standing mystery might finally be unraveled. About 12,800 years ago, the Clovis Paleoindians vanished suddenly, along with over 35 species of Ice Age animals, including the mammoth and saber-toothed tiger.
While the exact cause remains unclear, the unusually high concentration of platinum raised the possibility that an impact event might be to blame. This rare metal was found at 11 archaeological sites linked to the Clovis culture, spanning California, Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
In 2013, a different team found platinum-enriched ice in Greenland, dating back to the 'Young-Dryas' period. During this time, temperatures sharply dropped and remained low for 1,400 years. This period coincided with the disappearance of the Clovis culture.
Although platinum is rare on Earth, it is common in comets and asteroids. All the evidence points to an extinction event in North America, likely caused by fragments from a comet or asteroid, which may have triggered a sudden climate shift, cooling the Earth on a continental or even global scale.
6. The Endless Fallout
Earth experiences a daily bombardment of about 100 tons of extraterrestrial material. Fortunately, most of it is microscopic and burns up in the atmosphere. The few objects that survive to land on the surface are mostly rocky meteorites known as chondrites. Depending on their origin from ancient collision events, they are classified as H, L, or LL. At present, most fall into the H and L categories.
To investigate the types of space 'rains' Earth encountered in ancient times, researchers journeyed to Russia. Near St. Petersburg, they found an area rich in such materials that dated back to prehistoric times. Hundreds of samples were collected and chemically analyzed to identify their type.
To their surprise, they discovered a constant flow of L-chondrites beginning around 466 million years ago. This particular meteor shower is still ongoing. It originated from what was likely a significant impact involving an asteroid somewhere in the solar system. The fallout from this event was so intense that it dominated the geological record for a million years, masking all other impacts during that time.
5. The Lomonosov Tsunamis
A theory proposing that Mars once harbored water gained significant support with recent discoveries—evidence of tsunamis surging across the Martian surface. Where tsunamis occur, oceans must have existed, and it is believed that one resided on Mars' northern plains.
Approximately three billion years ago, an asteroid struck the area, forming the Lomonosov crater, which spans 70 kilometers (43 miles) in diameter. By analyzing the landscape's formations, scientists concluded that two enormous tsunamis were released from the crater at speeds of 60 meters per second (197 ft/sec).
The first tsunami reached a height of 300 meters (985 feet) and struck the land within hours. The magnitude, velocity, and power of the waves would have been immense. Tsunamis leave distinct marks along shorelines, and researchers discovered similar deposits where a Martian beach would have been.
Nearby, another unique ground feature was discovered known as thumbprint terrain, formed when one set of tsunamis rebounds off the shore and collides with a second wave. The only plausible explanation for this phenomenon is that Mars once had a northern ocean, which was struck by an asteroid, triggering massive tsunamis.
4. The Million-Year Volcanic Eruption
A single rock caused Earth to experience volcanic eruptions that lasted for nearly a million years. Measuring 15 kilometers (9 miles) in size, it struck Canada 1.85 billion years ago, in the Sudbury basin. The impact left behind the second-largest crater ever discovered, with a diameter ranging between 150–260 kilometers (93–161 miles).
Since most craters are eventually worn away by geological processes, studying the connection between space impacts and volcanism is challenging. However, the Sudbury event has preserved an exceptional site that offers an ideal location for this type of research.
Between 2013 and 2014, scientists ventured into the crater and collected over a hundred samples from the 1.5-kilometer-thick (0.93 mi) layers of rock within. The samples included melted surface material and volcanic fragments shaped like crab claws, a result of gas trapped inside the superheated rock causing explosive eruptions.
The variations in the rocks provided evidence that these formations were the result of persistent, violent eruptions. This process continued for an extraordinarily long period, ranging from hundreds of thousands to possibly a million years.
3. Six-Tailed Asteroid
While comets are well-known for their fiery tails, one asteroid has managed to outshine them. In 2013, the Hubble telescope uncovered an astonishing discovery in the asteroid belt—a space rock with not one, but multiple tails.
Asteroids typically don’t develop comet-like dust tails, but astonishingly, this one displayed six glowing tails. Named P/2013 P5, its discovery stunned scientists. They were equally astounded by how the tails shifted. Initially, they radiated from one side of the asteroid, but in just 13 days, they had moved to the opposite side.
It seems that the tails didn’t form all at once but rather in bursts. This suggests that a collision was not responsible for the change. Instead, it’s more likely that P/2013 P5 began to tumble uncontrollably due to the pressure from radiation acting on it.
The asteroid became so destabilized that its gravity could no longer retain material from its nucleus or surface. Measuring 425 meters wide (1,400 ft), the rock is thought to be a 200-million-year-old fragment of a much larger object that was destroyed long ago. To date, P/2013 P5 has lost up to 1,000 tons of dust.
2. The Wrong-Way Asteroid
In 2015, astronomers discovered an odd boulder among Jupiter’s Trojans. Known as 'BZ,' this asteroid shares Jupiter’s orbit but travels in the opposite direction of the planets, the Sun, and almost all the other asteroids in the solar system. This unusual motion is called retrograde motion, though it’s rare, it’s not entirely unheard of.
Nevertheless, BZ exhibits something extraordinary. While most retrograde asteroids avoid planets due to the inevitable collisions their paths create, BZ is different. With every orbit, it comes perilously close to Jupiter, a behavior unseen with any other planet’s asteroid.
Incredibly, this resilient asteroid has managed to dodge disaster for thousands of orbits, and researchers believe it will continue this perilous dance for at least another million years. While Jupiter’s gravity poses a serious risk to BZ, it also serves to keep it on its course, offering protection for now.
As the two bodies orbit the Sun, BZ passes both inside and outside of Jupiter’s orbit. The gravitational forces acting on them counteract one another, keeping the asteroid safely out of harm’s way.
1. Protoplanet Building Blocks
Vesta, the second-largest asteroid in the solar system, holds a special place in space history. In addition to being an asteroid, Vesta is also the last surviving protoplanet from the solar system’s earliest days. With a width of about 525 kilometers (326 mi), its internal composition sets it apart from other asteroids.
Unlike typical asteroids, Vesta has an iron-nickel core and a rocky surface, similar to Earth and Mars. A major impact once created a large crater near its southern pole, which ejected fragments known as Vestoids. One such fragment, named 1999 AT10, is truly unique—it didn’t originate from Vesta’s outer crust, but from its inner depths.
This makes 1999 AT10 an invaluable specimen. To unlock the mysteries of the early solar system’s formation, scientists must first calculate the precise thickness of Vesta’s crust. This, in turn, will help identify the materials that existed during the solar system's birth and contributed to the formation of the protoplanet.
Since 1999 AT10 originated from Vesta’s interior, it indicates that the crust’s maximum thickness is equal to the depth of the crater, which measures approximately 25 kilometers (16 mi) deep.
