American scientists from Arizona State University believe that the asteroid (33) Polyhymnia may contain elements that are not included in the periodic table. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine European Physical Journal Plus (TEPJP).
Asteroid (33) Polyhymnia is located 448 million kilometers from Earth in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Its diameter is 55 kilometers.
According to astronomers, the object’s extremely high density may indicate the presence of special rocks heavier than osmium, the heaviest element found on Earth. At the same time, the celestial body itself does not have enough mass to compress minerals into superdense forms.
To reach their conclusions, the researchers theorized the atomic structure of hypothetical superheavy elements using a rough model of the atom known as the Thomas-Fermi model. They found that elements with atomic numbers around 164 would have a density of between 36 and 68.4 grams per cubic centimeter. This range is close to the estimated density of 75.28 grams per cubic centimeter for Polyhymnia.
The discovery of scientists confirms the assumption of the possibility of the existence of stable superheavy elements. Substances known to science to have these properties are very radioactive and decay within milliseconds due to the repulsion of the large number of protons in the nuclei of their atoms.
“The idea that some superheavy elements may be stable and found in our solar system is very exciting,” said Johann Rafelski, professor of physics and co-author of the study.
Another possible explanation for the properties of the asteroid Polyhymnia could be the dark matter it contains.
Previous scientists I learnedIt is stated that the Earth may be threatened by more than 14 thousand asteroids that have not yet been discovered.