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Asteroid Vesta, long thought to be a halted protoplanet, might possibly represent a gigantic chunk of a bigger globe in our solar system. According to new gravity-field mapping and spin-rate measurements, Vesta lacks the thick core that is typical of differentiated planetary bodies. The discovery calls into question prior beliefs based on NASA's 2012 Dawn mission, which classed Vesta as an embryonic planet. Scientists suggest Vesta may have been expelled from a differentiated world in a cataclysmic collision 4.5 billion years ago, challenging our understanding of planet and asteroid formation.
New Gravity Data Suggests Vesta is Debris from a Destroyed Planet, Not a Protoplanet
A recent research published in Nature Astronomy on April 23, 2025, suggests that Vesta differs from the previous concept. Refined calibration procedures refined the radio Doppler signals, proving the lack of a metal-rich core, which contradicted previous findings. Seth Jacobson of Michigan State University, who conducted the study, claimed that the new interpretation represents a significant shift in planetary science. While Vesta's basaltic, volcanic surface still suggests geological activity, its interior homogeneity defies predictions for a planet that previously experienced complete differentiation.
This anomaly has prompted scientists to reassess the asteroid's origins. Vesta may have begun to distinguish but fell short of its potential. However, data from meteorites known as howardite-eucrite-diogenites (HEDs), which are considered to have originated on Vesta, show no evidence of such incomplete differentiation. Jacobson and his team alternatively propose that Vesta was formed from material blasted off a fully established planet during an ancient planetary collision, which might explain its volcanic surface without needing a deep core.
The findings call into doubt Vesta's identity and raise the prospect that additional asteroids are fragments of destroyed worlds. NASA's Psyche and ESA's Hera missions will conduct gravity experiments in the next decades, perhaps confirming this new theory. Jacobson speculated that Vesta's composition may even point to a similar origin with Earth or other early planets, a theory that could completely change asteroid research.
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