[Seminari] Basaltic asteroids and the history of planet formation

[Enric Marco]

Seminario en el Observatori Astronòmic


Quién: Geza Gyuk y Mark Hammegren (Adler Museum and Planetarium, 
Chicago, IL)

Dónde: seminario del OAUV

Cuándo: lunes, 9 de noviembre, 12:00h

Título: Basaltic asteroids and the history of planet formation

Abstract:
Over the past fifteen years or so, dynamical studies have pointed to the 
asteroid belt’s complex history, including the loss of perhaps 99% of 
its original mass and extensive mixing between orbital regions. In 
addition, there is a growing understanding that the asteroid belt once 
may have hosted dozens of bodies larger than the Earth’s moon – objects 
that we would call dwarf planets (or even planets) were they in 
existence today. Basaltic (or V-type) asteroids, the remnants of large, 
substantially molten bodies, are ideal markers for studying the pattern 
of planetary formation in the region of the asteroid belt due to their 
distinctive spectra and recognizable mineralogy. Once identified, these 
asteroids may be studied in greater detail, which may permit the firm 
recognition of distinct parent bodies. Since 2005, the asteroid research 
group at the Adler has been conducting a survey of potential basaltic 
asteroids in order to more fully understand this lost population of 
planets in the asteroid belt, and to provide observational evidence to 
constrain dynamical models. We select candidates from serendipitous 
observations by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and follow up with low 
resolution spectroscopy to confirm their nature. One early result is the 
identification of the basaltic nature of asteroid 21238 (1995 WV7), 
which is located on the other side of the strong 3:1 mean motion 
resonance from Vesta (the only remaining large basaltic parent body), 
and is thus likely to have derived from an independent source.





-- 
/------------------------------------\
 Dr. Enric Marco
 Departament d'Astronomia i Astrofísica
 Facultat de Física
 Universitat de València
 C/  Dr. Moliner, 50
 46100 Burjassot, Spain
 Phone: (34)-96-354-3069
 Fax:(34)-96-354-3084
 enric.marco en uv.es
 http://www.uv.es/marco
 http://www.uv.es/aulaastronomia
 http://www.uv.es/daa
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