[meteorite-list] Vesta-Howardite confirmation and other new parent body research findings

From: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:47:56 -0500 (EST)
Message-ID: <8CE70650980B19B-6A8-5043A_at_webmail-m101.sysops.aol.com>

"not entirely unexpected....although exciting nonetheless. :)"

Hi Mike,

True "Eureka, Eureka, Eureka!" moments are far and few between in
science and this is the beginning of the news all of us Vestalians have
long awaited. Sometimes it is more satisfying to have in dependent
verification of a landmark theory than to jump around between theories
and never get one just right. Drum roll.... and now for the warning
shot from DAWN with the hope that there is a lot more in the pipeline:

Meteorite interpretations of the new results from our friendly rich
man's space probe Dawn, with our personal poor man's space probe HED's:

"In the range of 200 to 1000 nm, our rotationally averaged spectrum of
Vesta can be well explained by a single-component, fine-grain
howardite, or a linear mixing model with a small fraction (<20%) of
fine-grain diogenite added. This is consistent with previous
conclusions about the global surface composition of Vesta (Gaffey,
1997)."

Now I don't know about everyone's expectations, but given the body of
research so far on Vesta and our impact-transport theories or it, this
is about as exciting as it gets for me without spotting spotting a
harem, missed by the mission scientists, filled with scantily clad
Vestal virgins with goosebumps waving back to Dawn and saying "Cheese!"
as we image them ;-)

With these, for now, Lutetia get relegated as coming attractions on the
back burner; Here's the link for the complete Howardite connection
article since you ask:

http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1110/1110.4113.pdf

ref:
Ultraviolet spectroscopy of Asteroid (4) Vesta, Jian-Yang Li, Dennis
Bodewits, Lori M. Feaga, Wayne Landsman, Michael F. A?Hearn,
Max J. Mutchler, Christopher T. Russell, Lucy A. McFadden, Carol A.
Raymond, Icarus, Dec. 2011, Pages 640-649.


Kindest wishes
Doug




-----Original Message-----
From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike at gmail.com>
To: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug at aim.com>
Cc: Meteorite-list <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Sun, Nov 13, 2011 12:55 pm
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Vesta-Howardite confirmation and other
new parent body research findings


Hi Doug,

This is great news and not entirely unexpected....although exciting
nonetheless. :)

Are copies of these articles available online yet? (probably not I am
assuming)

Best regards,

MikeG

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Meteorites & Amber (Michael Gilmer)
Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com
Facebook - http://tinyurl.com/42h79my
News Feed - http://www.galactic-stone.com/rss/126516
Twitter - http://twitter.com/galacticstone
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
On 11/13/11, MexicoDoug <mexicodoug at aim.com> wrote:
> Dear List,
>
> Here are 3 more articles from the Dec. 2011 issue of Icarus.
>
> (1) Confirms a good Howardite match for Vesta by DAWN;
> (2) DAWN related looks at how CM2 material on Vesta modifies the
> Framing Camera spectra;
> (3) Looks at Asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ36 and suggests an association
> with CM1's
>
> Kijndest wishes
> Doug
>
>
> Ultraviolet spectroscopy of Asteroid (4) Vesta
> Pages 640-649
>
> Highlights
> ? Multi-instrument measurements of Vesta?s geometric albedo in the UV
> and visible.
> ? No UV spectral bluing or lightcurve reversal on Vesta.
> ? Longitudinal variation of Vesta UV spectral slope matches that in
> visible.
> ? Fine-grained howardite matches Vesta?s spectrum from 220 nm to 950
> nm.
> ? No evidence of space weathering in the UV?visible spectroscopy and
> lightcurve.
>
> =================================================================
>
> How to characterize terrains on 4 Vesta using Dawn Framing Camera 
color
> bands?
> Pages 376-386
>
> Highlights
> ? We present methods to classify terrains on Vesta using Dawn Framing
> Camera images.
> ? Effects of exogenous material (CM2) on FC color spectra are also
> presented.
> ? Pseudo Band I minimum can be used to derive ferrosilite content of
> the surface.
>
> ================================================================
>
> Asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ36: Spectroscopy from 0.4 to 2.4 ?m and
> meteorite analogs
> Pages 462-475
>
> "We speculate that RQ36 is composed of a ?CM1?-like material."
>
> ? We present reflectance spectra from 0.4 to 2.4 microns of asteroid
> (101955) 1999 RQ36.
> ? RQ36 is the target of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft mission.
> ? We performed parametric tests and a least-squares search through
> RELAB meteorite data.
> ? Results show that CI and/or CM meteorites are the most likely
> meteorite analogs for RQ36.
> ? We also compare RQ36 with other known B-type asteroids measured by
> Clark et al. (2010).
> ______________________________________________
> Visit the Archives at
> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>

Received on Sun 13 Nov 2011 04:47:56 PM PST