P/2010 A2: X-Shaped Intruder In The Asteroid Belt

What happens when you think you have seen a recent collision between two asteroids but find a bizarre X-shaped object at the head of a comet-like trail of material?    You keep looking until you can figure it out. In January, astronomers thought the new collision they found would have a debris field expanding rapidly, like shrapnel flying from a hand grenade, but when they watched the aftermath using Hubble, they found the opposite; the object was expanding very, very slowly and that it started, not a few days, but nearly a year before the January observations. read more

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