The culprit of the dinosaur apocalypse may have come from an asteroid on the edge of the solar system | WPN World People News

A recent study has found that the meteorite that caused the extinction of dinosaurs about 66 million years ago may have originated from the outer regions of the solar system! Scientists, through analyzing fragments of the meteorite, suggest that it may have come from a region beyond Jupiter's orbit. The composition of the meteorite shows a high similarity with celestial bodies from the outer solar system.

This study, led by geochemist Mario Fischer-Gödde from the University of Cologne in Germany, was recently published in the journal Science. The research indicates that the meteorite, which caused the extinction of 70% of species on Earth, formed in the early solar system. It may have then entered the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars, eventually being propelled toward Earth for unknown reasons, triggering a global extinction event.

The research team focused particularly on the isotopic ratios of "ruthenium," which share characteristics with well-known carbonaceous asteroids, ruling out the hypothesis that the meteorite originated from a comet or was caused by volcanic activity. Additionally, the Chicxulub Crater, located on the present-day Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, also supports the possibility that the meteorite originated from a carbonaceous C-type asteroid.

Steven Goderis, a geoscientist from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium, stated that the isotopic characteristics of "ruthenium" can effectively distinguish between materials from the inner and outer solar system, allowing researchers to trace the origin of the meteorite more precisely. Although there is still much unknown about the composition of materials from the outer solar system, this study undoubtedly provides important clues for understanding Earth's history and the astronomical events it has encountered.