Spectral reflectance studies and optical surface alteration in the search for links between meteorites and asteroids

Details Spectral reflectance studies and optical surface alteration in the search for links between meteorites and asteroids Spectral reflectance studies and optical surface alteration in the search for links between meteorites and asteroids

Jan 1993

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993phdt.........8c&link_type=abstract

Ph.D. Thesis Hawaii Univ., Honolulu, HI.

Mathematics

Logic

2

Asteroids, Chondrites, Meteoritic Composition, Spectral Reflectance, Spectrum Analysis, Infrared Radiation, Mineralogy, Optical Properties, Surface Properties

Scientific paper

The ordinary chondrites (OC's) are the most numerous and most ancient of meteorites, but as yet their Solar System source region has not been identified. Meteoriticists have scrutinized these meteorites for clues as to the origin and evolution of the Solar System. They are among the most chemically primitive meteorites known, having been relatively unprocessed since their formation 4.6 billion years ago. The textures they preserve are records of prevailing conditions during the formation of the planets. There is a long history to the search for the ordinary chondrite parent bodies. Dynamical modelling indicates that they are most likely to be from the main asteroid belt at 2.5 AU. This happens to be where the S-type asteroids are located, and hence the 'OC meteorite-S Type asteroid controversy' arises. S-type asteroid reflectance spectra indicate surface compositions of olivine, pyroxene, and Fe,Ni metal. These are also the minerals that compose the ordinary chondrites, and so a genetic link is indicated. The subject of this dissertation is the connection, or lack thereof, between the ordinary chondrites and the S-type asteroids. To begin the investigations, Chapter two is a report on laboratory experiments which were performed in an attempt to simulate the optical surfaces or ordinary chondrite patent bodies to see if the optical properties of the S-type asteroids could be manufactured. The next chapter is a three-parameter analysis of the main spectral features which were found to be most altered by the experiments in Chapter two. Chapter four is an examination of the first spacecraft images of an S-type asteroid, 951 Gaspra, with possible mineralogic implications. Chapter five is a presentation of a new infrared telescopic survey of the S-type asteroids. Specifically, we investigate the suggestion that the OC parent-bodies may be found among the smaller main-belt asteroids. Finally, in Chapter six, an analysis of the compositions of S-type asteroids is performed using the Hapke spectral reflectance theory. In the concluding pages we recount the evidence presented and summarize our current knowledge before closing this book on the S-type asteroid-ordinary chondrite mystery.

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