Eros Asteroid Made of Same Material as Earth Meteorites

New data from the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous probe now orbiting the asteroid Eros indicates that the space rock is made of the same materials as chondrites, primitive meteorites found on Earth and believed to be left over from the formation of the planets billions of years ago. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory obtained the data when a powerful explosion on the sun zapped Eros with X-rays on May 4. X-rays from the half-hour solar flare stimulated the asteroid to release X-rays itself, allowing instruments on NEAR to determine its composition, researchers reported Tuesday at a Washington meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Further information is available at https://near.jhuapl.edu.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II