DIifferent origins or different evolutions? Decoding the spectral diversity among C-type asteroids

• Published in: The Astronomical Journal
• Main Authors: Vernazza, P., Castillo-Rogez, J., Beck, P., Emery, J., Brunetto, R., Delbò, M., Marsset, M., Marchis, F., Groussin, O., Zanda, B., Lamy, P., Jorda, L., Mousis, O., Delsanti, A., Djouadi, Z., Dionnet, Z., Borondics, F., Carry, B.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Institut d'astrophysique spatiale (IAS), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales Paris (CNES), Laboratoire de Cosmologie, Astrophysique Stellaire & Solaire, de Planétologie et de Mécanique des Fluides (CASSIOPEE), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) (UNS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Université Côte d'Azur (UniCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UniCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Astrophysics Research Centre Belfast (ARC), Queen's University Belfast (QUB), Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides (IMCCE), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de minéralogie, de physique des matériaux et de cosmochimie (IMPMC), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR206-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Synchrotron SOLEIL (SSOLEIL), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), ANR-16-CE29-0015,RAHIIA_SSOM,Analyses de résidus provenant d'analogues de glace interstellaire pour la compréhension de la formation de la matière organique du Système Solaire(2016)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: asteroids: general – techniques: spectroscopic; meteorites; meteoroids – methods: data analysis – methods: laboratory: solid state – methods: observational – minor planets; meteors; [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP]; Tagish; Tagish Lake
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01790534; https://hal.science/hal-01790534/document; https://hal.science/hal-01790534/file/Vernazza%20et%20al.%202017.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/153/2/72

International audience Anhydrous pyroxene-rich interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) have been proposed as surface analogs for about two-thirds of all C-complex asteroids. However, this suggestion appears to beinconsistent with the presence of hydrated silicates on the surfaces of some of these asteroids, including Ceres. Here, we report the presence of enstatite (pyroxene) on the surface of two C-type asteroids (Ceres and Eugenia) based on their spectral properties in the mid-infrared range. The presence of this component is particularly unexpected in the case of Ceres, becausemost thermal evolution models predict a surface consisting of hydrated compounds only. The most plausible scenario is that Ceres' surface has been partially contaminated by exogenous enstatite-rich material, possibly coming from the Beagle asteroid family. This scenario questions a similar origin for Ceres and the remaining C-types, and it possibly supports recent results obtained by the Dawn mission (NASA) that Ceres may have formed in the very outer solar system. Concerning the smaller D∼200 km C-types such as Eugenia, both their derived surface composition (enstatite and amorphous silicates) and low density (<1.5 g cm −3) suggest that these bodies accreted from the same building blocks, namely chondritic porous, pyroxene-rich IDPs and volatiles (mostly water ice), and that a significant volume fraction of these bodies has remained unaffected by hydrothermal activity likely implying a late accretion. In addition, their current heliocentric distance may best explain the presence or absence of water ice at their surfaces. Finally, we raise the possibility that CI chondrites, Tagish-Lake-like material, or hydrated IDPs may be representative samples of the cores of these bodies.