Related papers: Olivine-dominated asteroids: Mineralogy and origin

M-type asteroids, as defined in the Tholen taxonomy (Tholen, 1984), are medium albedo bodies supposed to have a metallic composition and to be the progenitors both of differentiated iron-nickel meteorites and enstatite chondrites. We…

We have used the XSHOOTER echelle spectrograph on the European Southern Obseratory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) to obtain UVB-VIS-NIR (ultraviolet-blue (UVB), visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR)) reflectance spectra of two members of…

We conducted a TEM study of an unusual oxide-silicate composite presolar grain (F2-8) from the unequilibrated ordinary chondrite Semarkona. The presolar composite grain is relatively large, has an amoeboidal shape, and contains Mg-rich…

The high occurrence on Earth of ordinary chondrite meteorites and the making of models based upon arbitrary assumptions has led to some confusion about the origin of ordinary chondrites. Major element fractionation among chondrites has been…

The asteroid belt is a unique source of information on some of the most important questions facing solar system science. These questions include the sizes, numbers, types and orbital distributions of the planetesimals that formed the…

We present a survey of >4,000 star compositions from the Hypatia Catalog to examine whether rocky exoplanets (i.e., those with rocky surfaces, dominated by silicates) might be geologically similar to Earth, at least with respect to…

Investigations of the main asteroid belt and efforts to constrain that population's physical characteristics involve the daunting task of studying hundreds of thousands of small bodies. Taxonomic systems are routinely employed to study the…

The near-Earth asteroid population suggests the existence of an inner Main Belt source of asteroids that belongs to the spectroscopic X-complex and has moderate albedos. The identification of such a source has been lacking so far. We argue…

Bottke et al. (2007) linked the catastrophic formation of Baptistina Asteroid Family (BAF) to the K/T impact event. This linkage was based on dynamical and compositional evidence, which suggested the impactor had a composition similar to…

This is the second paper in a series of three in which we present an exhaustive inventory of the 49 solid state emission bands observed in a sample of 17 oxygen-rich dust shells surrounding evolved stars. Most of these emission bands are…

We present near-infrared (0.78-2.45 {\mu}m) reflectance spectra for nine middle and outer main belt (a > 2.5 AU) basaltic asteroids. Three of these objects are spectrally distinct from all classifications in the Bus-DeMeo system and could…

Major element fractionation among chondrites has been discussed for decades as ratios relative to Si or Mg. Expressing ratios relative to Fe leads to a new relationship admitting the possibility that ordinary chondrite meteorites are…

This work focuses on the study of the aqueous alteration process which acted in the main belt and produced hydrated minerals on the altered asteroids. The aqueous alteration is particularly important for unraveling the processes occurring…

The asteroid belt contains less than a thousandth of Earth's mass and is radially segregated, with S-types dominating the inner belt and C-types the outer belt. It is generally assumed that the belt formed with far more mass and was later…

A statistical analysis of brightness variability of asteroids reveals how their shapes evolve from elongated to rough spheroidal forms, presumably driven by impact-related phenomena. Based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Object…

Context. Small binary asteroid systems and pairs are thought to form through fission induced by spin up via the Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect. This process is expected to depend on their structural strength, hence…

(Abridged) Debris disks trace remnant reservoirs of leftover planetesimals in planetary systems. A handful of "warm" debris disks have been discovered in the last years, where emission in excess starts in the mid-infrared. An interesting…

Although spectral surveys and spacecraft missions provide information on small bodies, many important analyses can only be performed in terrestrial laboratories. For now, the total number of parent bodies represented in our meteorites…

A hypothesis based on observational and theoretical results on the origin of C-type asteroids and carbonaceous chondrites is proposed. Asteroids of C-type and close BGF-types could form from hydrated silicate-organic matter accumulated in…

Metal-rich near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) represent a small fraction of the NEA population that is mostly dominated by S- and C-type asteroids. Because of this, their identification and study provide us with a unique opportunity to learn more…