Scientists from Australia's Curtin University have found that certain types of asteroids pose a threat to our planet because they are difficult to destroy, reports the PNAS magazine.
A university study makes it clear that we are talking about debris asteroids. They consist of piles of stones held together by gravity. Thus, ordinary monolithic celestial bodies are destroyed for hundreds of thousands of years, and "rubble" can exist for billions of years. The presence and persistence of "rubble" asteroids in the universe suggest that there are many more of them than scientists previously believed.
The composition of such an asteroid can vary, but those that are more intricate and complex may be more difficult to destroy. For example, asteroids composed of metals or volcanic rocks may be harder to disperse than those that are mostly composed of ice or dust.
Earlier, Japan's Hayabusa-1 spacecraft spotted a similar asteroid about two million kilometers from Earth. Scientists say that this asteroid cannot be destroyed. Experts have found the only way to save the Earth from such an asteroid - a kinetic push that will send it in a different direction.
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