<p>According to the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_tack_hypothesis" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Grand Tack Hypothesis</a>, in the early solar system, Jupiter and Saturn migrated inwards and then outwards, scattering asteroids as they did so.</p>

<p>In this hypothesis it seems inevitable that <em>some</em> m-type asteroids will have ended up in orbits with large semi-major axes.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-20T07:32:45.803Z
2019-09-20T07:32:45.803Z
ProfRob
<p>Is there any reason to think an M-type asteroid could not have migrated beyond Jupiter and entered an orbit similar to the Centaurs? </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-19T10:14:21.423Z
Then it would *be* a centaur, would it not? How would we still know it was an M-type asteroid?
AtmosphericPrisonEscape
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-19T16:42:01.780Z
@AtmosphericPrisonEscape I was under the impression centaurs are icy, comet-like bodies, who were originally KBO, astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/C/Centaurs. I thought the metallic asteroids originated in the Asteroid Belt. I'm not asking if such an asteroid could be identified, just is there any reason a metallic asteroid could not end up in an orbit between Jupiter and Neptune.
Bob516
<asteroids><orbital-migration><centaur>
Could there be a M-type asteroid beyond Jupiter?
Bob516
# Could there be a M-type asteroid beyond Jupiter?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-09-18)

Is there any reason to think an M-type asteroid could not have migrated beyond Jupiter and entered an orbit similar to the Centaurs?

**Tags:** asteroids, orbital-migration, centaur
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Then it would *be* a centaur, would it not? How would we still know it was an M-type asteroid?  
> **username_0**: @AtmosphericPrisonEscape I was under the impression centaurs are icy, comet-like bodies, who were originally KBO, astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/C/Centaurs. I thought the metallic asteroids originated in the Asteroid Belt. I'm not asking if such an asteroid could be identified, just is there any reason a metallic asteroid could not end up in an orbit between Jupiter and Neptune.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-09-20. Score: 1

According to the [Grand Tack Hypothesis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_tack_hypothesis), in the early solar system, Jupiter and Saturn migrated inwards and then outwards, scattering asteroids as they did so.

In this hypothesis it seems inevitable that *some* m-type asteroids will have ended up in orbits with large semi-major axes.


---

