Yarkovsky effect

An asteroid has diverted nearly 160 km from the path of the past 12 years because of a strange phenomenon called the "Yarkovsky effect"."Yarkovsky effect is pushing the asteroid to Earth, be it out of the way into our planet," said Josh Emery of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. "Understanding this force and how that affects an asteroid is needed to determine whether the asteroid will hit us or not," says researcher writes rtv.net.A small asteroid 1999 RQ36 could hit Earth in 2135. The analysis found that the Yarkovsky effect led to the 160 km asteroid deflection.Emery's study in 2007, using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, was essential to determine the effect. He measured the thermal characteristics of the asteroid, using infrared emissions and found that the space rock is covered by a thin insulating material."As an area retains more heat, the stronger is the Yarkovsky effect. Therefore, if the asteroid is made of solid rock, the force would be stronger, because it retains heat longer. But fine material such as sand or dust is heats and cools quickly, so the effect is weaker, "said Emery.With this discovery, researchers have identified several likely collision between 2170-2190, while others were removed.Yarkovky effect is named for a Russian engineer of the nineteenth century, who proposed the theory that a rocky space object could change its trajectory, over long periods of time, they absorb sunlight and then re- issues as heat. The effect is hard to measure because it is extremely small.The effect was discovered asteroid 1999 RQ36 in an effort to determine the mass of asteroid millions of miles away. Researchers needed rock size, thermal properties, the driving force (Yarkovsky effect) and orbit to calculate the density. Researchers have found that this asteroid is the density of water and is very porous, being composed mainly of dust and rocks.OSIRIS-Rex space vehicle will be launched in 206, will reach the asteroid in 2019 and will bring samples on it, back on Earth, in 2023.