[meteorite-list] Ordinary Chondrites' Parent Body

From: MexicoDoug <MexicoDoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Aug 30 03:11:03 2006
Message-ID: <01c401c6cc03$697b6320$1bcf5ec8_at_0019110394>

Hello List:

If you read the (future) third edition of Dr. Harry McSween's book
"Meteorites and their Parent Dwarf Planets and Small Solar System Bodies",
there may be some editing on the subject of the Parent Body for Ordinary
Chondrites:

The L-chondrite and LL chondrite parents, specifically were considered the
best match for the small-fry 7-km diameter asteroid 3628 Bo?n?mcov?
(Boznemcova). While it wasn't expected that this small asteroid was the
overall parent of these meteorite classes, it was the starting point. The
latest issue of Meteoritics and Planetary Science has an article where doubt
is cast upon that hypothesis after a detailed analysis of the reflectance
spectrum of Boznemcova. The authors conclude that Boznemcova doesn't match
as well as thought, and is instead has the surface of a somewhat
differentiated angrite-like basalt - of the kind never sampled on Earth.

So that would leave the "common" L's and LL's as orphans still with the
observations that some Earth crossing asteroids are somewhat similar but no
cigars.

Ref: CLOUTIS, BINZEL, BURBINE, GAFFEY, McCOY, "Asteroid 3628 Boznemcova:
Covered with angrite-like basalts?", M&PS, V. 41, (8), p. 1147, (2006).

As for the H-Chondrite parent body, nothing new here on 6 Hebe. Except that
if you have a pair of binoculars and dark sky, now is the time to see 190-km
diameter Hebe. It was brightest at its August 5 opposition and now is to
moving out more quickly. But Hebe is still bright (mag. 8.4). Nearly as
bright as a currently very bright Neptune (mag. 7.8), and both objects are
in Capricornus and make for good evening viewing.

Best wishes, Doug
Received on Wed 30 Aug 2006 03:10:41 AM PDT