asteroids Archives

Final distributions of planets at 𝑡 = 200 Myr, in four sets of simulations with different instability times. The timing of the instability is indicated at the top of each panel, relative to the time of the gas disk dispersal. Each panel shows the results of simulations considering rings with different radial surface density profiles. The x-axis shows planets’s semi-major axis. The y-axis shows the planets’ mass. Light-grey dots show planets produced in our simulations. The four dark-grey dots represent the real terrestrial planets. The giant planet dynamical instability is mimicked by assuming that Jupiter and Saturn instantaneously jump from their pre-instability orbits to their current ones at 𝑡 = 𝑡 inst.-- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

Implantation Of Asteroids From The Terrestrial Planet Region: The Effect Of The Timing Of The Giant Planet Instability

by Keith CowingApril 24, 2024April 24, 2024

The dynamical architecture and compositional diversity of the asteroid belt strongly constrain planet formation models.

Aqueous chemistry inside meteorite parent bodies allows the formation of prebiotic molecules crucial for all life in the early solar system. We present a reaction mechanism suitable for vitamin B3 synthesis in this environment, which is experimentally verified in the literature. Vitamin B3 was transported to the Hadean Earth by meteorite falls and initiated redox chemistry in the form of NAD(P)H, potentially participating in the origins of life. -- ChemPlusChem

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Prebiotic Vitamin B3 Synthesis in Carbonaceous Planetesimals

by Keith CowingApril 23, 2024April 23, 2024

Aqueous chemistry within carbonaceous planetesimals is promising for synthesizing prebiotic organic matter essential to all life. Meteorites derived from these planetesimals delivered these life building blocks to the early Earth, […]

a, Backscattered electron image of a fine Ryugu grain. The white boxes correspond to the areas shown in b and c. b, Secondary electron image of framboidal magnetite showing granular texture. c, Secondary electron image of porous iron sulfide surrounded by phyllosilicate. The arrow points to an iron whisker on the iron sulfide surface. Sample ID is A0104-021012.

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Meteorites Were A Likely Source Of Nitrogen For Early Earth

by Keith CowingDecember 2, 2023December 2, 2023

Micrometeorites originating from icy celestial bodies in the outer Solar System may be responsible for transporting nitrogen to the near-Earth region in the early days of our solar system. That […]

Examples of median-averaged IFU slices obtained with the G235M grating setting for Patroclus and Eurybates. The slices are projected onto the sky plane, with the x and y coordinates corresponding to right ascension and declination, respectively. A logarithmic stretch has been applied to the flux scaling in order to accentuate the detailed structure of the target PSFs at wide separations. The PSF of the Patroclus binary shows an extended shape. The black boxes denote the extraction regions used in producing the spectra. The faint background source near Patroclus lies in a region of the field of view that was masked during our spectral extraction. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

JWST Near-infrared Spectroscopy Of The Lucy Jupiter Trojan Flyby Targets: Evidence For OH Absorption, Aliphatic Organics, And CO2

by Keith CowingNovember 23, 2023November 22, 2023

We present JWST/NIRSpec observations of the five Jupiter Trojans that will be visited by the Lucy spacecraft — the Patroclus–Menoetius binary, Eurybates, Orus, Leucus, and Polymele.

Occam’s razor-based deconvolution of the subset of signals associated to CnHmO species as detected by the DFMS on 3 August 2015.

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Status Report

Oxygen-bearing Organic Molecules In Comet 67P’s Dusty Coma: First Evidence For Abundant Heterocycles

by Keith CowingAugust 3, 2023August 3, 2023

The puzzling complexity of terrestrial biomolecules is driving the search for complex organic molecules in the Interstellar Medium (ISM) and serves as a motivation for many in situ studies of […]

Orbital distributions of 12 C-complex asteroids observed with VLT/FORS2 in spectropolarimetry Background grey dots are numbered main-belt asteroids that are quoted from JPL Small-Body Database Query (https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/ tools/sbdb_query.html). Symbols in the highlighted color are proportional to the size of asteroids. Vertical lines at different heliocentric distances indicate the most important mean-motion resonances with Jupiter. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Status Report

Optical Spectropolarimetry Of Large C-complex Asteroids: Polarimetric Evidence For Heterogeneous Surface Compositions

by Keith CowingJuly 31, 2023July 31, 2023

This study presents the first optical spectropolarimetric study of large C-complex asteroids. A total of 64 C-complex asteroids of different subclasses are analyzed using archival polarimetric and reflectance data to […]

This is an artist's concept of a craggy piece of solar system debris that belongs to a class of bodies called trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). Most TNOs are small and faint, making them difficult to spot. Generally, they are more than 100 million times fainter than objects visible to the unaided eye. The newfound TNOs range from 40 to 100 kilometres across. In this illustration, the distant Sun is reduced to a bright star at a distance of about 5 billion kilometres. Artwork Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI). Science Credit: NASA, ESA, and C. Fuentes (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) Licence type Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Press Release

Redness Of Neptunian Asteroids Sheds Light On The Early Solar System

by Keith CowingMarch 28, 2023March 28, 2023

Asteroids sharing their orbits with the planet Neptune have been observed to exist in a broad spectrum of red colour, implying the existence of two populations of asteroids in the […]

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Ceres, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

An Unknown Class Of Water-rich Asteroids Has Been Identified

by Keith CowingFebruary 20, 2023February 20, 2023

New astronomical measurements in the infrared range have led to the identification of a heretofore unknown class of asteroids

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Press Release

Ancient Asteroid Grains Provide Insight Into The Evolution Of Our Solar System

by Keith CowingDecember 27, 2022December 27, 2022

The UK’s national synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source, was used by a large, international collaboration to study grains collected from a near-Earth asteroid to further our understanding of the evolution […]

Fragment of organism killed and baked alive

Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Impact events, Press Release

Death From Space

by Keith CowingSeptember 1, 2022September 1, 2022

Tens of tons of extraterrestrial solid material collide with Earth daily. Most of this material is small enough that it burns up in the atmosphere, but some fragments are large […]