Earth encounters as the origin of fresh surfaces on near-Earth asteroids

Richard P. Binzel (), Alessandro Morbidelli, Sihane Merouane, Francesca E. DeMeo, Mirel Birlan, Pierre Vernazza, Cristina A. Thomas, Andrew S. Rivkin, Schelte J. Bus and Alan T. Tokunaga
Additional contact information
Richard P. Binzel: Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
Alessandro Morbidelli: Departement Cassiopee, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Nice 06304, France
Sihane Merouane: Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique (LESIA), Observatoire de Paris, Meudon 92195, France
Francesca E. DeMeo: Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique (LESIA), Observatoire de Paris, Meudon 92195, France
Mirel Birlan: Institut de Mecanique Celeste et de Calcul des Ephemerides (IMCCE), Observatoire de Paris, Paris 75014, France
Pierre Vernazza: ESTEC/ESA
Cristina A. Thomas: Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA
Andrew S. Rivkin: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland 20723, USA
Schelte J. Bus: Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Hilo, Hawaii 96720, USA
Alan T. Tokunaga: Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Hilo, Hawaii 96720, USA

Nature, 2010, vol. 463, issue 7279, 331-334

Abstract: A shake-up for asteroids The 'ordinary chondrite problem' has been a factor in Solar System astronomy for three decades. It refers to the apparent anomaly that whereas about 80% of the meteorites falling to Earth are 'ordinary chondrites', they are rare among asteroids. The usual explanation is that 'space weathering' processes alter ordinary chondrite surfaces, producing reddened 'S-type' asteroids. A mystery remains, though, in the shape of a rare class of asteroids, the Q-types. These are found only near the Earth, and they do display 'fresh' spectral matches to ordinary chondrites. Now the combination of a new data set of 95 asteroid spectra with their detailed orbital histories shows that all Q-type asteroids have recently passed close to Earth at least within the lunar distance. Thus tidal stresses or seismic shaking during these encounters may have exposed new unweathered material on the surface. Intriguingly a test of this hypothesis may be at hand: 99942 Apophis, a potentially Earth-threatening asteroid currently displaying 'weathered' spectral colours, is due to pass within six orbital radii of Earth in 2029. It is predicted that it will experience a seismic 'fresh shake', which should expose new unreddened material on the surface.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08709

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