Bennu Asteroid 'Erupting Plumes' Baffle NASA

The asteroid Bennu continues to baffle NASA scientists as they discovered particle plumes erupting on its surface.

According to Futurism, the discovery is considered a major breakthrough as it shows that asteroids are more than just rock pieces scattered through space. These space objects can also be made up of dynamic and complex components that could tell scientists a wealth of information about a universe we still know so little about.

The plumes were discovered by NASA’s unmanned spacecraft the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx). The spacecraft began orbiting the strange meteorite last Dec. 31. It is still unclear what gases make-up the plumes but based on information from OSIRIS-REx, some of the gases escape the space rock while some get sucked back by Bennu’s gravitational force.

“The discovery of plumes is one of the biggest surprises of my scientific career. And the rugged terrain went against all of our predictions. Bennu is already surprising us, and our exciting journey there is just getting started,” Dante Lauretta, a principal investigator on the OSIRIS-REx mission at the University of Arizona, Tucson, said in a statement.

Bennu was described to be “slightly wider than the height of the Empire State Building” and may carry some clues or materials that could tell scientists about the origin of the universe.

“The first three months of OSIRIS-REx’s up-close investigation of Bennu have reminded us what discovery is all about — surprises, quick thinking, and flexibility. We study asteroids like Bennu to learn about the origin of the solar system. OSIRIS-REx’s sample will help us answer some of the biggest questions about where we come from,” Lori Glaze, acting director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said.

Aside from trying to determine the origin of our solar system, the study of Bennu can also help scientists know more about the sources of water and organic molecules on Earth, its resources in near-Earth space and learn how asteroids can impact our planet.

Aside from the plumes, the NASA team in charge of OSIRIS-REx did not anticipate the number and size of boulders found on the asteroid’s surface. Scientists anticipated a smooth space object but found that Bennu has a rough and dense makeup. This could make gathering samples from the asteroid more complicated.