Water ice and organics on the surface of the asteroid 24 Themis

Humberto Campins (), Kelsey Hargrove, Noemi Pinilla-Alonso, Ellen S. Howell, Michael S. Kelley, Javier Licandro, T. Mothé-Diniz, Y. Fernández and Julie Ziffer
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Humberto Campins: University of Central Florida, PO Box 162385, Orlando, Florida 32816-2385, USA
Kelsey Hargrove: University of Central Florida, PO Box 162385, Orlando, Florida 32816-2385, USA
Noemi Pinilla-Alonso: NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA
Ellen S. Howell: NAIC-Arecibo Observatory
Michael S. Kelley: University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
Javier Licandro: Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Calle Vía Láctea s/n, E-38200 La Laguna, Spain
T. Mothé-Diniz: Universidade Federal Do Rio De Janeiro
Y. Fernández: University of Central Florida, PO Box 162385, Orlando, Florida 32816-2385, USA
Julie Ziffer: University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine 04104, USA

Nature, 2010, vol. 464, issue 7293, 1320-1321

Abstract: Ice on asteroid 24 Themis Two groups, both using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea in Hawaii but independently, have obtained infrared spectra of the main-belt asteroid 24 Themis consistent with the widespread presence of a frosty coating containing water ice and organics. Although the presence of water on the surface of some asteroids had been inferred from the comet-like activity of several small asteroids, these are the first actual measurements of water and organics in the asteroid belt. The presence of surface ice is particularly surprising because of the relatively short lifetime that exposed ice has at this distance from the Sun — between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature09029

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