Rare spatial dust reveals the cruel connection between two very different asteroids

A recently published scientific article provides evidence that two types of asteroids probably graduated in the same regions during the beginning of our solar system.

Our solar system was formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a huge gas and dust disc that orbiting our sun.

The asteroids we see today are some of the most complete artifacts of this formation that still remains to observe, such as screws, surpluses and others debris left with a work.

Scientists can study these floating time capsules and examine their composition, shape and surface to infer how our solar system was When it was born.

Asteroids are organized by researchers in categories based on similar characteristics,

A scientific recently published in The Planetary Science Journal, led by the scientist Joe Masierofrom infrared processing and analysis center, now reports evidence that Two distinct types of asteroids may have shared the same cruel past.

“Asteroids offer us the opportunity to observe what was going on in the early days of the solar system, as an instantaneous conditions That existed when the first solid objects formed, ”said Masiero.

Using data from Caltech’s Palomar Observatory, Masiero’s investigation focuses on two categories of asteroids, A metal rich and another composed of one Mixture of silicates and other materials.

Although they have completely different compositions, the two categories Share a unique dusty layer of a material made of iron and sulfur, called troilite.

“His troil It is very unusualSo we can use it as a fingerprint that connects these two different types of objects with each other, ”said Masiero.

“It’s just a phase”

Asteroids are separated into different classes based on the spine of light reflected from their surface, denoted by letters like m, k, c, among others. Swouts can show the presence of carbon, silicates or metals in the labeled, dust on the asteroid surface.

In this study, Masiero analyzed M and K and K-type asteroids. The MSteroids of type M are rich in metals, while those K-type are composed of silicates and other materials and are thought to be linked to an ancient giant collision between asteroids. About 95% of the crust and the mantle of the earth are constituted by silicates.

But the same materials in asteroids They may appear differently, depending on the shape of the asteroid, the size of the regolhyl (dust, pebbles, boulders) and the asteroid phase angle in relation to the sun.

The asteroids of our solar system are in constant movement: Orbit the sun and rotate over its own axis, and so, just as the moon has phases, asteroids also have. The phase angle is the angle between the sun, the asteroid and the earth.

“Although the experts indicate that there are different minerals on the surface of these objects, we are trying to find out how different are These bodies, ”said Masiero.” We want to back down in time to know when they graduated and under what conditions they formed at the beginning of the solar system. “

The same asteroids; new techniques

Masiero turned to the polarizationparticularly in the near infrared as a method for studying asteroids.

In measuring the polarization of light reflected in the M and K asteroids that was studying, Masiero shows that the two previously discrete asteroid spectral classes may actually be linked through the composition of its surface.

Polarization describes the direction of the waves that constitute the light, Just as shine is a measure of the number of existing photons or color is a measure of wavelength. Different surface minerals have different polarization responses when they reflect light, just as they can have different colors.

Changes in the phase angle of an asteroid can significantly affect polarization, and This answer is the result of the variety of materials to superfit.

Masiero used the how the degree of polarization changes with the phase angle to investigate the composition of asteroid surfaces. This technique can probe the composition even when the minerals do not show any color or spectral response.

“Polarization gives us a view of the minerals of asteroids that we cannot obtain through the way the asteroid reflects sunlight or the spectrum of reflected light,” said Masiero. “Polarization gives us A third axis to ask questions about surface mineralogy that is independent of brightness or spectral information. ”

Masiero used the WIRC+Pol instrument at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory, in the mountains above San Diego, California, USA.

“For infrared polarization data I needed, there is no other instrument that can get such deep data. This is a unique advantage of Palomar,” says Masiero.

When the dust rests

After polarization studies, Masiero concludes that both type M asteroids of type K Share the same dusty surface of Tronelitisan iron sulfide material.

Masiero argues that evidence of spewlings is a sign that these two types of asteroids came from similar types of larger original objects that later separated to create the asteroids we see today.

The different general asteroid compositions may be related to the different layers within the large original objects. Just as the earth has a core, cloak and crust made of different materials, these types of asteroids can have origin in the different layers.

The dust of speech may have been abundant in an original object before it broke, or it may have been a cloud of dust that covered everything after it fragmented, but its roots are still unknown.

“We cannot tear the earth To see what is inside, but we can look at the asteroids-the left-wing pieces, unused components of solar system formation-and use them to see how our planets were built, ”said Masiero.