--- title: Space: Asteroid Identified From Time of Earth's Formation description: Scientists identified an asteroid formed in the inner Solar System at the same time as Earth that has been remarkably preserved canonical: https://time.com/4313966/asteroid-science-comet/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-02T13:09:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:11:08.916Z article:section: Science og:title: Scientists Found an Asteroid From the Time of Earth's Formation og:description: "It has been preserved in the best freezer there is" og:url: https://time.com/4313966/asteroid-science-comet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4548ad9b088ecbdc/6988915f428a9e72b6cd2734/c2014-s3-comet-eso.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The unique rocky comet C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scientists Found an Asteroid From the Time of Earth's Formation twitter:description: "It has been preserved in the best freezer there is" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4548ad9b088ecbdc/6988915f428a9e72b6cd2734/c2014-s3-comet-eso.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Scientists Found an Asteroid From the Time of Earth's Formation  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent May 2, 2016 1:09 PM UTC  A diagram released by the European Southern Observatory on April 29, 2016, shows the probable history of the first object to be discovered on a long-period cometary orbit—but that has the characteristics of a pristine inner Solar System asteroid—over a period of more than 4 billion years. The majority of this time was spent in the cold outskirts, in the Oort Cloud. A diagram released by the European Southern Observatory on April 29, 2016, shows the probable history of the first object to be discovered on a long-period cometary orbit—but that has the characteristics of a pristine inner Solar System asteroid—over a period of more than 4 billion years. The majority of this time was spent in the cold outskirts, in the Oort Cloud.L. Calçada—ESO  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent May 2, 2016 1:09 PM UTC Scientists have identified an asteroid formed in the inner Solar System at the same time as Earth that has been remarkably preserved, according to new [research](http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/4/e1600038). The study, published in the journal [_Science Advances_](http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/4/e1600038)_,_ shows that the asteroid had been preserved since spinning out to the freezing cold temperatures of the Oort Cloud region at the edge of the Solar System. “This one is the first uncooked asteroid we could observe,” study author Karen Meech, a researcher at University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy, said in a statement. “It has been preserved in the best freezer there is.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4313966/asteroid-science-comet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4313966/asteroid-science-comet/"},"headline":"Scientists Found an Asteroid From the Time of Earth's Formation","datePublished":"2016-05-02T13:09:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:11:08.916Z","description":"\"It has been preserved in the best freezer there is\"","url":"https://time.com/4313966/asteroid-science-comet/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4548ad9b088ecbdc/6988915f428a9e72b6cd2734/c2014-s3-comet-eso.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4548ad9b088ecbdc/6988915f428a9e72b6cd2734/c2014-s3-comet-eso.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The unique rocky comet C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS)","caption":"A diagram released by the European Southern Observatory on April 29, 2016, shows the probable history of the first object to be discovered on a long-period cometary orbit—but that has the characteristics of a pristine inner Solar System asteroid—over a p","creditText":"L. 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