Detecting two asteroids crashing into each other

Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered a collision between asteroids, which can lead to the formation of new planets.

>>>The asteroid once 'baked' the Earth

Scientists followed the star NGC 2547-ID8 when observing a dust and debris eruption between August 2012 and January 2013, according to a Nature report.

Photo: photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov

'We think that two large-size asteroids have crashed into each other, creating a giant cloud of extremely fine particles. They are now accumulating into small pieces and gradually escaping from the star , " said research leader Huan Meng of the University of Arizona.

This is the first time Spitzer has collected data before and after collisions, allowing scientists to closely observe the process of forming planets like Earth.

Asteroids start with dust-like materials around young stars, and they crash into each other.

If not destroyed in the chaos phase, lasting about 100 million years, they can become complete planets.

Scientists believe that the moon formed in this way, the result of a collision between the original Earth and a Mars-sized object.

In the case of being monitored, NGC 2547-ID8 is only about 35 million years old and lies 1,200 light-years away from the globe, ie during periods of asteroids.