A NEARBY asteroid may be hosting never-before-seen elements, according to a new study.
The study was published in The European Physical Journal Plus in September.
It found that one asteroid has a density that is much higher than would be expected from the known elements.
This suggests that this rock, dubbed asteroid 33 Polyhymnia, may contain new elements that are not found on our periodic table.
The space object is found in the Asteroid belt and measures around 30 to 36 miles across.
“In order to characterize the mass density of superheavy elements, we solve numerically the relativistic Thomas–Fermi model of an atom,” the study reads.
“To obtain a range of mass densities for superheavy matter, this model is supplemented with an estimation of the number of electrons shared between individual atoms,” it continues.
What’s more, the researchers believe that the elements in these asteroids are stable, too.
This is fascinating because typically radioactive superheavy elements between atomic numbers 105 and 118 are unstable.
“It’s unknown whether elements with more than 118 protons would even be stable – they’ve certainly never been observed, either in the wild or in laboratory settings,” experts from Science Alert write.
“But theoretical work suggests that there’s an island of stability around atomic number 164, where superheavy elements would not be as prone to radioactive decay and may stick around, at least for a time,” they continue.
This could potentially explain the peculiar asteroid 33 Polyhymnia’s density.
Measurements have found the rock’s density could be at around 75.28 grams per cubic centimeter.
This was enough to classify the asteroid as a potential compact ultradense object (CUDO).
The researchers write in their paper: “The purpose of this study was to determine whether CUDOs with extreme mass density could be achieved without the need for the usually invoked strange or dark matter.
“We have done this while exploring two different nuclear systems using the relativistic Thomas-Fermi model.
“From the exploration of both standard nuclei and alpha matter, it is clear that both types of nuclear matter could explain the density seen in CUDOs such as asteroid 33 Polyhymnia.”
