SPACE scientists have traced back the origins of the cataclysmic asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66million years ago.
The ruinous rock – thought to be at least six miles wide – likely cannoned into earth from the outer solar system, it’s been discovered.
The University of Cologne study found the asteroid first formed somewhere beyond Jupiter‘s orbit.
It’s then thought to have been nudged out of orbit, possibly due to a crash with another rock, sending it on an apocalyptic collision course with earth.
The impact crater formed after the rock slammed into earth – called the Chicxulub crater – is buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.
A layer across earth was caused by the blow and the research team found traces across Denmark, Italy and Spain, which all contained the element ruthenium.
Scientists determined the ruthenium must’ve come from Chicxulub because it is so rare for it be produced by earth.
Ruthenium, they say, is a “generic fingerprint” of rocks in the main asteroid belt.
It’s also consistent with a C-type (carbon rich) asteroid.
And those same space rocks are today found in an asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter.
Lead scientist Mario Fischer-Godde told AFP: “Now we can, with all this knowledge… say that this asteroid initially formed beyond Jupiter.”
He also told Reuters: “A projectile originating at the outskirts of the solar system sealed the fate of the dinosaurs.”
But the findings still don’t pinpoint precisely where it came from.
Fischer-Godde said: “We cannot be really sure where the asteroid was kind of hiding just before it impacted on Earth.”
It’s also been proposed that a comet wiped out the dinosaurs, but Fischer-Godde says his team’s findings rule out that hypothesis.
Impact from the asteroid 66million years ago made the Chicxulub crater nearly 150miles in diameter, leading to devastating consequences for life on earth at the time.
The blow threw huge amounts of debris in the air and caused massive tidal waves that would storm over the American continents.
National History Museum dinosaur researcher, professor Paul Barrett, told the museum’s website: “The asteroid hit at high velocity and effectively vaporised.
“It made a huge crater, so in the immediate area there was total devastation.
“A huge blast wave and heatwave went out and it threw vast amounts of material up into the atmosphere.
“It sent soot travelling all around the world.
“It didn’t completely block out the Sun, but it reduced the amount of light that reached the Earth’s surface.”
It’s thought sunlight would’ve been restricted for at least a decade, leading to dramatic cooling.
Fischer-Godde pointed out that although his findings offer rare insight into the planet’s past, it also comes as an alert for earth’s future.
He said: “If there’s ever going to be a C-type asteroid on an Earth-crossing orbit, we have to be very careful.
“Because it might be the last one we witness.”
