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Scientists Have New Theory for What Killed the Dinosaurs - VOA Learning English

Scientists Have New Theory for What Killed the Dinosaurs - VOA Learning English

Scientists Have New Theory for What Killed the Dinosaurs - VOA Learning English
Feb 21, 2021 1 min, 21 secs

American researchers have a new theory about how an object struck the Earth and caused the dinosaurs to die off.

Astronomers have said the most likely cause of the strike was either an asteroid or a comet.

In recent years, researchers have presented evidence that the impact was caused by an asteroid.

The theory suggests the asteroid came from an area between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

But a study by two astronomers from Harvard University presents a new theory: that the crash was caused by a comet.

The researchers say the comet came from an area containing icy debris on the edge of the solar system.

Their theory states that the comet was pulled into the solar system by Jupiter’s gravity.

The comet then came very close to the sun, whose tidal force caused it to break up into pieces.

The team based its theory on a model created to predict the probability that a long-period comet from the Oort cloud would hit Earth.

Long-period comets take more than 200 years to orbit the Sun.

Siraj said the findings showed that Jupiter’s large influence pushes “these incoming long-period comets into orbits that bring them very close to the sun.” The comets experience such a large tidal force from the sun “that the most massive of them would shatter into about a thousand fragments,” he said.

The researchers say their theory can be tested by further studying the crater in Mexico, as well as possibly those on the moon.

a round hole made by an explosive force such as a bomb or an object falling from the sky

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