Scientists investigating the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs have published a new study which suggests it formed “beyond the orbit of Jupiter”.
According to the findings published Thursday in the journal Science, the researchers made the decision after examining the geological remains of the impact in what is now Chicxulub, Mexico.
A team led by Mario Fischer-Gödde of the University of Cologne in Germany “measured ruthenium isotopes in the impact deposit and compared them with several types of meteorites that may indicate the composition of the impactor,” according to the study abstract.
“They found that the Chicxulub impactor was a carbonaceous asteroid that formed in the outer Solar System,” the paper continued. “Additional measurements on the other five impacts showed that they were silicate asteroids that formed in the inner Solar System.”
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Colombian geologists have discovered samples in South America from the Chicxulub asteroid that caused Earth’s mass extinction. (Kike Calvo/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The study summary also states that the asteroid impact at Chicxulub created a “global-scale layer that marks the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.”
“The layer contains high concentrations of platinum group elements, including ruthenium,” the report continues, adding that scientists’ data indicates that the asteroid that struck Mexico “formed outside the orbit of Jupiter.”
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Artist’s impression of the giant asteroid that struck Chicxulub off the coast of Mexico 66 million years ago, causing the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. (Mark Garlick/Reuters)
“So far, the Chicxulub asteroid appears to be a unique and unusual case of a carbonaceous-type asteroid impacting Earth,” Fischer-Gedde told The New York Times, which reports that previous studies have suggested similar findings regarding the asteroid’s true origins.


This high-resolution topographical map from NASA shows the Yucatan Peninsula, with a faint dark green arc in the upper left portion of the peninsula marking the remains of the Chicxulub impact crater. (NASA/Getty Images)
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“What would Earth be like now without this impact?” Fischer-Gedde added. “Maybe we should just appreciate our existence a little more, and that it’s just a happy coincidence that everything is the way it is.”