STANSW Science Education News Journal 2019 2019 SEN Vol 68 Issue 4 | Page 22

ARTICLES Stimulus Material for depth studies, courtesy of Macquarie University (continued) Asteroid hit and run The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter preserves the processes of planetary formation, frozen in time. Vesta, the second largest object in the belt, provides an outstanding opportunity for scientists to investigate the origin and formation of planets. In a paper just published in the journal Nature Geoscience, Dr. Yi-Jen Lai of the Macquarie University Planetary Research Centre and Macquarie GeoAnalytical, together with colleagues, proposes a new evolutionary history for Vesta, which involves a giant impact. Read more here. Syllabus Links: Stage 4 Earth and Space Starburst shows the way home Macquarie University researcher Stuart Ryder is part of an international team of astronomers who have made a long-awaited breakthrough, pinpointing the exact origin of a powerful transient phenomenon, known as a fast radio burst, or FRB. Astronomers first identified FRBs in 2007, and since then 85 have been detected. Now, thanks to Dr Ryder and his colleagues, their exact nature has become a little clearer. Read more here. Syllabus Links: Stage 4 Earth and Space FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 22 SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 68 NO 4