Related papers: Hydrothermal activities on C-complex asteroids ind…
WD J204713.76-125908.9 is a new addition to the small class of white dwarfs with helium-dominated photospheres that exhibit strong Balmer absorption lines and atmospheric metal pollution. The exceptional abundances of hydrogen observed in…
Themis is an old and statistically robust asteroid family populating the outer main belt, and resulting from a catastrophic collision that took place 2.5$\pm$1.0 Gyr ago. Within the old Themis family a young sub-family, Beagle, formed less…
An accurate understanding of the relationship between the impact conditions and the degree of shock-induced thermal metamorphism in meteorites allows the impact environment in the early Solar System to be understood. A recent hydrocode has…
While proper orbital elements are currently available for more than 1 million asteroids, taxonomical information is still lagging behind. Surveys like SDSS-MOC4 provided preliminary information for more than 100,000 objects, but many…
Low-albedo asteroids preserve a record of the primordial solar system planetesimals and the conditions in which the solar nebula was active. However, the origin and evolution of these asteroids are not well-constrained. Here we measured…
The construction of models for the internal constitution and the temporal evolution of large planetesimals, the parent bodies of chondrites, requires information on the heat conductivity of the complex mixture of minerals and iron metal…
Polarimetry has the capacity to provide a unique probe of the surface properties of asteroids. Trends in polarization behavior as a function of wavelength trace asteroid regolith mineral properties that are difficult to probe without…
Earth's surface environment is largely influenced by its budget of major volatile elements: carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and hydrogen (H). Although the volatiles on Earth are thought to have been delivered by chondritic materials, the…
With the goal of using externally-polluted white dwarfs to investigate the water fractions of extrasolar planetesimals, we assemble from the literature a sample that we estimate to be more than 60% complete of DB white dwarfs warmer than…
White dwarfs which exhibit transit signatures of planetary debris and accreted planetary material provide exceptional opportunities to probe the material composition and dynamical structure of planetary systems. Although previous…
Jupiter family comets contribute a significant amount of debris to near-Earth space. However, telescopic observations of these objects seem to suggest they have short physical lifetimes. If this is true, the material generated will also be…
Least-processed carbonaceous chondrites (carbonaceous chondrites that have experienced minimal aqueous alteration and thermal metamorphism) are characterized by their predominately amorphous iron-rich silicate interchondrule matrices and…
The metal content of asteroids is of great interest, not only for theories of their origins and the evolution of the solar system but, in the case of near-Earth objects (NEOs), also for impact mitigation planning and endeavors in the field…
Analysis of laboratory experiments simulating space weathering optical effects on atmosphereless planetary bodies reveals that the time needed to alter the spectrum of an ordinary chondrite meteorite to resemble the overall spectral shape…
The short-lived $^{182}$Hf-$^{182}$W decay system is a powerful chronometer for constraining the timing of metal-silicate separation and core formation in planetesimals and planets. Neutron capture effects on W isotopes, however,…
Context. It has recently been proposed that the surface composition of icy main-belt asteroids (B-,C-,Cb-,Cg-,P-,and D-types) may be consistent with that of chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles (CPIDPs). Aims. In the light of…
Conventional planet formation theory suggests that chondritic materials have delivered crucial atmospheric and hydrospheric elements such as carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and hydrogen (H) onto primitive Earth. However, recent measurements…
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…
Earth is depleted in volatile elements relative to chondritic meteorites, its possible building blocks. The extent of this depletion increases with decreasing condensation temperature, and is approximated by a cumulative normal…
The isotopic compositions of terrestrial hydrogen and nitrogen are clearly different from those of the nebular gas from which the solar system formed, and also differ from most of cometary values. Terrestrial N and H isotopic compositions…