Science and Tech : NASA's Spitzer telescope witnesses asteroid smashup -Crash, bang, wallop

Nasa's Spitzer Space Telescope has spotted a huge eruption of dust around a young star. They believe the dust cloud was the result of a smashup between large asteroids.
This type of collision can eventually lead to the formation of planets, researchers say.
Scientists had been regularly tracking the star, called NGC 2547-ID8, when it surged with a huge amount of fresh dust between August 2012 and January 2013. "We think two big asteroids crashed into each other, creating a huge cloud of grains the size of very fine sand, which are now smashing themselves into smithereens and slowly leaking away from the star," said lead author and graduate student Huan Meng of the University of Arizona, Tucson.

The aftermath of a large asteroid impact around NGC 2547-ID8, a 35-million-year-old sun-like star. Nasa's Spitzer Space Telescope witnessed a giant surge in dust around the star, the result of two asteroids colliding.

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