Posted on 03/26/2014 12:05:41 PM PDT by 12th_Monkey
Scientists have made a stunning discovery in the outer realm of the solar system an asteroid with its own set of rings that orbits the sun between Saturn and Uranus. The space rock is the first non-planetary object ever found to have its own ring system, researchers say.
The pair of space rock rings encircle the asteroid Chariklo. They were most likely formed after a collision scattered debris around the asteroid, according to a new study unveiled today (March 27). The asteroid rings also suggests the presence of a still-undiscovered moon around Chariklo that's keeping them stable, researchers said.
"We werent looking for a ring and didnt think small bodies like Chariklo had them at all, so the discovery and the amazing amount of detail we saw in the system came as a complete surprise!" study leader Felipe Braga-Ribas, of the National Observatory in Brazil said in a statement today.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
The “settled science” quote always makes me laugh. Very few things are “settled”, like maybe Newtons Laws. But a dynamic system that is always changing can’t have “settled” science.
Even Newton’s got all upset when conditions got relativistic.
So, no, the best they can say is “to the best of our understanding at this time”.
We know very little about the workings of the universe.
there you go...
Quantum mechanics had to be invented because Newtons laws didn’t hold true to particles.
Urectum
Unless we un-see it, or the data turns out to be flawed, the ‘debate’ is over, rings can circle an asteroid.
So cool.
Rectum...darn near killed’m!
true words really hard to understand what is going on when what you measure occurred oh so long ago and far far away
Because of the presence of the ring, moons are also suspected. Related from the FRchives:
Surprise! Earth Passing Asteroid 1998 QE2 Has a Moon
UniverseToday | May 30, 2013 | Nancy Atkinson on
Posted on 5/30/2013 5:51:12 PM by BenLurkin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3025552/posts
There is no way to 100% prove anything in science, which is why everything is called a theory, even something as basic as gravity. “Laws” are simple mathematical relations which are used to construct theories, but even those can be occasionally overturned.
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