Space Weathering of Small Koronis Family Members

Details Space Weathering of Small Koronis Family Members Space Weathering of Small Koronis Family Members

Oct 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dps....42.4607t&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #42, #46.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.1051

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Often debated topics in asteroid science are the space weathering process and its implications for the relationships between S- and Q-type asteroids and ordinary chondrite meteorites. Q-type asteroids have been shown to display the best spectral match to ordinary chondrites (McFadden et al. 1985). While the Q-types and ordinary chondrites share some spectral features with S-type asteroids, the S-types have significantly redder slopes than the Q-types. This reddening of spectral slope is attributed to the effects of space weathering on the observed surface composition. The analysis by Binzel et al. (2004) provided a missing link between the Q- and S-type bodies in near-Earth space by showing a reddening of spectral slope in objects from 0.1 to 5 km that corresponded to a transition from Q-type to S-type asteroid spectra. However the link was not complete. The existence of Q-type asteroids in the main-belt had not been verified. We have completed a photometric survey of the Koronis family using the Kitt Peak 2.1m telescope. This provides a unique opportunity to compare the effects of the space weathering process on potentially ordinary chondrite-like bodies within a population of identical initial conditions. We find a trend in spectral slope for objects 1-5 km that shows the transition from Q- to S-type in the main-belt. We have also identified potential Q-type asteroids in the main-belt. This data set will prove crucial to our understanding of the space weathering process and its relevant timescales.

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