Asteroids may contain elements yet to be discovered

However, the heaviest element relative to its atomic mass is the noble gas Oganesson, which was produced by laboratory synthesis for the first time in 2002. It has a density of 7.2 g/cm3.³ At room temperature.

But there may be natural elements in our solar system that may be denser than osmium. We need to look no further than asteroids near Mars to find them, according to a group of researchers at the University of Arizona.

An abnormal asteroid

in Research article in the European Physical Journal Plus They investigated whether asteroid 33 Polyhymnia could theoretically contain a new element.

The asteroid, which orbits in the large asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, has long interested astrophysicists because its composition appears abnormal.

The length of the ice rock is between 50 and 60 kilometers, and its density is 75.28 g/cm3.³. It is therefore classified as a so-called ultra-dense compact object – also called CUDO.

The density looks unnatural and many astronomers also suspect that it might be a measurement error, but the research team from the University of Arizona still wanted to check if it was physically possible after all.

The element number is also called the atomic number and has the symbol Z, which refers to the number of protons in the atomic nucleus. Element 76, osmium, has Z = 76, while oganesson has Z = 118.

Elements below Z = 105 are stable, while elements created in the laboratory between 105 and 118 are unstable and radioactive. This has led scientists to wonder whether there are any stable elements above 118.

However, researchers have previously concluded that theoretically, there may be room for stability around Z = 164, where superheavy elements are neither susceptible to radioactive decay nor disappear quickly.

A superdense element that is theoretically stable

The research team from Arizona based their work on the so-called Thomas Fermi model, an approximate and somewhat imprecise, but useful, approach to the theory of how atoms with multiple electrons behave.

They then discovered the atomic structure of a hypothetical superdense element that corresponds to the theoretical and stable element Z=164.

They also concluded that the density of the element ranged between 36 and 68.4 g/cm3³, which is very close to the density of asteroid 33 Polyhymnia. So, in theory, the asteroid could contain a new element.

This does not mean that asteroid 33 Polyhymnia is definitely superdense, but it may provide an explanation for its unusual properties.

“The goal of the study was to determine whether CUDOs with extreme mass densities could be achieved without the need for exotic matter or the commonly called dark matter,” the researchers wrote. In the research article.

“Our results on mass density give us the opportunity to hypothesize that a very heavy and sufficiently stable element could exist in the cores of dense asteroids – such as 33 Polyhymnia.”

In addition to explaining the strange properties of some asteroids, the study could also help companies get closer to asteroid mining in the future.