What is the lifespan of an asteroid? Find out what scientists say

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Do you know about those rocky objects that orbit around the sun? Well, those objects are called asteroids and our scientists keep tracking their movements in order to save Earth from their impact.

According to NASA scientists, there are no known threats from asteroids but it is important to find them, before they find us. The question arises here that how long can these rock-like materials survive?

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully approached the asteroid Bennu in October 2020, after nearly two years of orbiting. By deploying its robotic arm, the probe gathered approximately 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of dusty, rocky material from the asteroid's surface. This marks the first-ever sample of an asteroid collected by a U.S. mission. This material has the potential to shed light on intriguing questions about the age and lifespan of asteroids like Bennu.

To know about the lifespan of asteroids, understanding how they were formed is important. According to a report by LiveScience, these celestial bodies emerged from the protoplanetary disk around our sun about 4.5 billion years ago.Harold Connolly, an astronomer associated with OSIRIS-REx, explains that the process began with dust coagulating and gradually accumulating more material.

Through collisions and cohesion, some dust clusters evolved into planets like Earth, while others formed moons, comets, and asteroids. Asteroids are leftover material. Most asteroids now reside in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, although occasionally some are ejected and become near-Earth asteroids. The largest intact asteroids are approximately 4.5 billion years old, dating back to the solar system's origin. However, some asteroids can be considered younger, comprising smaller