JPL: Dinosaur Extinction Suspect Cleared

Dinosaur Extinction Suspect Cleared

The Baptistina family of asteroids has for years been suspected by scientists as the lead culprits in the extinction of the dinosaurs, but now scientists believe the family name can be cleared, as new data suggest Baptistinas may not be old enough to be held responsible.

Scientists had held a theory that the giant asteroid Baptistina crashed into another asteroid about 160 million years ago in the main asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. A giant piece of asteroid from that collision was believed to have crashed into earth causing the dinosaurs' extinction.

But NEOWISE, the asteroid-hunting portion of NASA’s WISE mission, measured the size and reflectivity of approximately 120,000 asteroids in the main asteroid belt, including over more than 1,000 asteroids belonging to the Baptistina family. While scientists are confident that a giant piece of asteroid crashed to Earth and likely caused the mass extinction 65 million years ago, WISE’s data has allowed scientists to more accurately calculate the age of the Baptistina asteroids.  

They have determined that the Baptistina family would not have had sufficient time to reach Earth after collision in space to have created the impact believed to have killed off the dinosaurs.

According to , “The asteroid family that produced the dinosaur-killing asteroid remains at large.”

To learn more, visit NASA's WISE webpage.

Flaring Black Hole Snapped

NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer - WISE - has provided rare data of a “flaring black hole,” offering astronomers new details on the extreme environment around black holes and a closer understanding of the space phenomenon. 

The black hole, called GX339-4, lies near the center of our galaxy, more than 20,000 light years from Earth, and has a mass at least six times greater than our sun. According to NASA, “the black hole is orbited by a companion star that feeds it.” While much of the star’s matter is sucked into the black hole, some material is “blasted away as a jet flowing at nearly the speed of light.”

The new information collected showed erratic and enormous variations in the jet’s flow through images displaying infrared color and size variations. WISE’s cameras snapped the images every 11 seconds for a year.

The collected observations allow astronomers to take the “best measurements yet” of the black hole’s magnetic field, which is calculated to be 30,000 times stronger than the one generated by Earth at its surface. 

Until WISE, key measurements of black hole jets had been extremely difficult. Scientists now have what they call “a missing link” of information regarding black hole properties and behavior.

To learn more visit JPL's WISE webpage. To watch a video showing black hole variations as seen through WISE, click here.