Space weathering of asteroids
D. I. Shestopalov, L. F. Golubeva, E. A. Cloutis

TL;DR
Laboratory experiments show space weathering alters asteroid spectra rapidly, but ongoing impacts continually rejuvenate surfaces, explaining the prevalence of chondritic asteroids despite quick weathering timescales.
Contribution
This study combines laboratory simulations and impact modeling to demonstrate that asteroid surface rejuvenation prevents spectral aging, challenging previous assumptions about space weathering effects.
Findings
Space weathering alters asteroid spectra in ~0.1 Myr.
Impact-driven regolith movement counteracts weathering.
Spectroscopic parameters can identify chondritic surfaces.
Abstract
Analysis of laboratory experiments simulating space weathering optical effects on atmosphereless planetary bodies reveals that the time needed to alter the spectrum of an ordinary chondrite meteorite to resemble the overall spectral shape and slope of an S-type asteroid is about ~ 0.1 Myr. The time required to reduce the visible albedo of samples to ~ 0.05 is ~ 1 Myr. Since both these timescales are much less than the average collisional lifetime of asteroids larger than several kilometers in size, numerous low-albedo asteroids having reddish spectra with subdued absorption bands should be observed instead of an S-type dominated population. It is not the case because asteroid surfaces cannot be considered as undisturbed, unlike laboratory samples. We have estimated the number of collisions occurring in the time of 105 yr between asteroids and projectiles of various sizes and show that…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstro and Planetary Science · Planetary Science and Exploration · Laser-induced spectroscopy and plasma
