More is known about the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago

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The enigma surrounding the nature of the asteroid that struck Chicxulub Puerto (Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico), which caused the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction (disappearance of 50& nbsp;% of animal species) finally seems to find its outcome. After many years of speculation and debate about the origin and composition of this devastating celestial body, a team of researchers led by Mario Fischer-Gödde from the University of Cologne has just shed new and decisive light.

Their study, based on the analysis of a rare chemical element, ruthenium, offers particularly convincing conclusions. The results of their work were published Thursday August 15 in the journal Science.

A reliable witness& nbsp;: ruthenium

Ruthenium, almost absent from the earth's crust, but abundant in certain types of asteroids, turned out to be the keystone of this scientific investigation. By analyzing the isotopes (different versions of the same atom) of ruthenium present in the geological layer marking the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, a remnant of the cataclysmic impact, Fischer-Gödde and his collaborators have discovered an isotopic signature (the equivalent of a fingerprint, but for atoms) of striking uniformity.

This chemical fingerprint matches perfectly with that characteristic of carbonaceous asteroids, those carbon-rich celestial bodies that formed beyond the orbit of the planet Jupiter.

This discovery not only corroborates previous hypotheses pointing to a carbonaceous asteroid as the agent of the mass extinction, but it also provides another extremely important clarification. Since ruthenium is an extremely rare element on Earth, its presence in the analyzed samples almost certainly confirms that the traces come from the asteroid itself, and not from another source. This makes the results all the more reliable,To complete their demonstration, the researchers compared these data to ruthenium isotopes from five other asteroid impacts that occurred over the last 541 million years. These latter, all in line with the composition of siliceous asteroids formed closer to the Sun, underline by contrast the singularity of the impact of this asteroid.

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An improbable journey for a devastating impact

The journey that led the asteroid to hit our planet remains a fascinating enigma, despite the confirmation of its carbonaceous nature. Unlike most asteroids of this size, which generally come from the belt located between Mars and Jupiter, this one seems to have followed a unique trajectory.

Some theories suggest that this celestial object could have originated from a population of carbonaceous asteroids nestled at the edge of the main belt, dislodged from its cosmic cradle by the gravitational vagaries that shook the primitive solar system. It would then have traveled millions of kilometers to finally crash on our planet, with a power equivalent to several billion times that of the atomic bomb that the Americans dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945.

William Bottke, a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, had already raised this intriguing hypothesis regarding the distant origin of this asteroid. The researcher believes that this new study provides valuable insight, supporting existing conjectures while greatly enriching the scientific corpus on the subject. A very nice step forward despite the presence of many gray areas still surrounding this celestial body: exact composition (volatile element content, specific minerals, etc.), impact angle, speed, immediate effects of the latter, etc. What is certain is that it is thanks to him that mammals appeared, and later, the human species.

• Researchers have confirmed that the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs was a carbonaceous asteroid, likely originating from the outer reaches of the asteroid belt.
• Analysis of ruthenium, a rare element on Earth, has unequivocally identified the asteroid's extraterrestrial origin and determined its composition.
• The asteroid is believed to have followed an unusual trajectory for an object of its size, originating from a distant region of the solar system.

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