
This artist’s impression shows the exiled asteroid 2004 EW95, the first carbon-rich asteroid confirmed to exist in the Kuiper Belt and a relic of the primordial Solar System. This curious object likely formed in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and must have been transported billions of kilometres from its origin to its current home in the Kuiper Belt.
An asteroid found in the Kuiper Belt after multiple observing campaigns, Kuiper belt object (120216) 2004 EW95 is confirmed to most likely be a C-type asteroid, potentially validating dynamical models of early Solar System evolution.
A new report using multiple independent photometric and spectroscopic observations of Kuiper belt object (120216) 2004 EW95has discovered a potential asteroid residing in the Kuiper belt. The UV-optical spectrum of2004 EW95is found to resemble that of a hydrated C-type asteroid, with the confident detection of phyllosilicates and a drop off in the UV spectrum. The orbital characteristics of 2004 EW95 would also suggest it was emplaced by a past instability. Indeed, models of the early sculpting of our Solar System predict the ejection of primitive asteroids with the potential later capture of some into the Kuiper belt. These new results may provide the first steps to validating such predictions. READ MORE »