Webb Telescope Reveals Asteroid Connection

-text”>Bennu is a⁢ roughly 1,650-foot-wide (500 meters) asteroid recently visited by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission which touched‍ down on the space ⁣rock⁢ in 2022 and collected samples that were returned to‍ Earth in September 2023,and⁢ have ⁣as yielded several promising discoveries. Ryugu,meanwhile,spans around 2,950 feet (900 m) and was ⁣visited by Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe in 2019,which⁤ delivered samples of the asteroid to our planet in December 2020.

Both space rocks are shaped like spinning tops and are considered “potentially hazardous asteroids” due to their‍ size and relative proximity ⁣to Earth.‍ Neither poses a perceivable threat to our planet for at least the next century – although NASA ⁤is keeping ‍a close eye on Bennu due to the slim chance it could collide‍ with us in 2182. There are several ideas about where the two asteroids originate, but one leading theory is that they belong to the same family, created when⁤ a larger asteroid broke apart.