Earth Sciences 1086F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Near-Earth Object, Planetary System, University Of Western Ontario
Document Summary
Introduction: asteroids are primordial objects left over from the formation of the solar system, evidence of meteorites tells us that asteroids are the last remains of the planetsimals that built the planets 4. 57 billion years ago. Main asteroid belt - asteroid distribution and the jupiter effect: asteroids probably did not start concentrated in the main belt. Jupiter has such a large mass that it affects motions of small bodies near it: gravitational perturbations caused by jupiter"s gravity prevented any planets in the main belt from coalescing into a single-planet body. If these differentiated asteroids are broken apart, layers of different rock types may be exposed. Its spectrum matched the spectrum of a eucrite, an igneous, basalt-like meteorite. Seems to be the sole source asteroids for these meteorites: ceres has an albedo of 6% with a flat spectrum, showing equal reflectivity at nearly all wavelengths.