298 Baptistina
Encyclopedia
298 Baptistina is a main belt
asteroid
, part of the Baptistina family
of asteroids. It was discovered on September 9, 1890 by Auguste Charlois
of Nice
. The reason for its name is unknown. It measures around 13–30 km
in diameter. Although it has an orbit similar to the Flora family
asteroids, Baptistina was found to be an unrelated interloper. It was considered the possible source of the impactor said to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, a possibility ruled out by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
in 2011.
, David Vokrouhlický and David Nesvorný proposed that several known asteroids can be regarded as the "Baptistina family
" because they share similar orbital elements. Further, the study argues that the family is the remnant of a 170 km (105.6 mi) parent asteroid that was destroyed in a collision with a smaller body some 80 million years ago, with Baptistina itself being the largest remnant. Until recently, it was believed that this collision event occurred 160 million years ago, but NASA's WISE (Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer), used to determined the age of things in space, revealed that this collision event occurred more recently, some 80 million years ago. It is suggested that a fragment from this event eventually became the K/T impactor
believed to have caused the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event that brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.. However, NASA's recent discovery cuts the time for the remnants to reach earth to 15 million years; too little time for this collision to have caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs; "as a result of the WISE science team's investigation, the demise of the dinosaurs remains in the cold case files," said Lindley Johnson, program executive for the Near Earth Object (NEO) Observation Program. http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/asteroid-didnt-do-it-so-who-killed-the-dinosaurs-nasa-rules-out-baptistina-theory/story-fn5fsgyc-1226141757315#ixzz1YT5BCVOm
Concerns have been raised about this theory, in part because very few solid observational constraints exist of the asteroid or family. Indeed, it was recently discovered that Baptistina does not share the same chemical signature as the source of the K–T boundary
. However, while this finding may make the link between the Baptistina family and K-T impactor more difficult to substantiate, it does not preclude the possibility.
In 2011, data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
revised the date of the proposed collision which broke-up the Baptistina parent asteroid to about 80 million years ago. If correct, this data means it is very unlikely that the K/T impactor
was part of this family of asteroids, as it typically takes many tens of millions of years for an asteroid to reach a resonance with Earth and then collide, much more than the 15 million between this breakup and the collision of the K/T impactor.
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
, part of the Baptistina family
Baptistina family
The Baptistina family is an asteroid family that was likely produced by the breakup of an asteroid across 80 million years ago following an impact with a smaller body. The largest presumed remnant of this parent asteroid is 298 Baptistina....
of asteroids. It was discovered on September 9, 1890 by Auguste Charlois
Auguste Charlois
Auguste Honoré Charlois was a French astronomer who discovered 99 asteroids while working in Nice.His first discovery was the asteroid 267 Tirza in 1887...
of Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
. The reason for its name is unknown. It measures around 13–30 km
KM
KM, Km, or km may stand for:*Kilometre *Kernel methods*Kettle Moraine High School*Khmer language *Kuomintang , a centre-right political party in the Republic of China on Taiwan...
in diameter. Although it has an orbit similar to the Flora family
Flora family
The Flora family of asteroids is a large grouping of S-type asteroids in the inner main belt, whose origin and properties are relatively poorly understood at present...
asteroids, Baptistina was found to be an unrelated interloper. It was considered the possible source of the impactor said to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, a possibility ruled out by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is a NASA infrared-wavelength astronomical space telescope launched on December 14, 2009, and decommissioned/hibernated on February 17, 2011 when its transmitter was turned off...
in 2011.
Extinction event theory
In 2007, a study by William F. BottkeWilliam F. Bottke
William F. Bottke is a planetary scientist specializing in asteroids. He works at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.-Education:...
, David Vokrouhlický and David Nesvorný proposed that several known asteroids can be regarded as the "Baptistina family
Baptistina family
The Baptistina family is an asteroid family that was likely produced by the breakup of an asteroid across 80 million years ago following an impact with a smaller body. The largest presumed remnant of this parent asteroid is 298 Baptistina....
" because they share similar orbital elements. Further, the study argues that the family is the remnant of a 170 km (105.6 mi) parent asteroid that was destroyed in a collision with a smaller body some 80 million years ago, with Baptistina itself being the largest remnant. Until recently, it was believed that this collision event occurred 160 million years ago, but NASA's WISE (Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer), used to determined the age of things in space, revealed that this collision event occurred more recently, some 80 million years ago. It is suggested that a fragment from this event eventually became the K/T impactor
Chicxulub Crater
The Chicxulub crater is an ancient impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is located near the town of Chicxulub, after which the crater is named...
believed to have caused the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event that brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.. However, NASA's recent discovery cuts the time for the remnants to reach earth to 15 million years; too little time for this collision to have caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs; "as a result of the WISE science team's investigation, the demise of the dinosaurs remains in the cold case files," said Lindley Johnson, program executive for the Near Earth Object (NEO) Observation Program. http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/asteroid-didnt-do-it-so-who-killed-the-dinosaurs-nasa-rules-out-baptistina-theory/story-fn5fsgyc-1226141757315#ixzz1YT5BCVOm
Concerns have been raised about this theory, in part because very few solid observational constraints exist of the asteroid or family. Indeed, it was recently discovered that Baptistina does not share the same chemical signature as the source of the K–T boundary
K–T boundary
The K–T boundary is a geological signature, usually a thin band, dated to 65.5 ± 0.3 Ma ago. K is the traditional abbreviation for the Cretaceous period, and T is the abbreviation for the Tertiary period...
. However, while this finding may make the link between the Baptistina family and K-T impactor more difficult to substantiate, it does not preclude the possibility.
In 2011, data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is a NASA infrared-wavelength astronomical space telescope launched on December 14, 2009, and decommissioned/hibernated on February 17, 2011 when its transmitter was turned off...
revised the date of the proposed collision which broke-up the Baptistina parent asteroid to about 80 million years ago. If correct, this data means it is very unlikely that the K/T impactor
Chicxulub Crater
The Chicxulub crater is an ancient impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is located near the town of Chicxulub, after which the crater is named...
was part of this family of asteroids, as it typically takes many tens of millions of years for an asteroid to reach a resonance with Earth and then collide, much more than the 15 million between this breakup and the collision of the K/T impactor.