A plausible link between the asteroid 21 Lutetia and CH carbonaceous chondrites

Abstract

A crucial topic in planetology research is establishing links between primitive meteorites and their parent asteroids. In this study we investigate the feasibility of a connection between asteroids similar to 21 Lutetia, encountered by the Rosetta mission in July 2010, and the CH3 carbonaceous chondrite Pecora Escarpment 91467 (PCA 91467). Several spectra of this meteorite were acquired in the ultraviolet to near-infrared (0.3 to 2.2 μm) and in the mid-infrared to thermal infrared (2.5 to 30.0 μm or 4000 to ~333 cm^-1), and they are compared here to spectra from the asteroid 21 Lutetia. There are several similarities in absorption bands and overall spectral behavior between this CH3 meteorite and 21 Lutetia. Considering also that the bulk density of Lutetia is similar to that of CH chondrites, we suggest that this asteroid could be similar, or related to, the parent body of these meteorites, if not the parent body itself. However, the apparent surface diversity of Lutetia pointed out in previous studies indicates that it could simultaneously be related to other types of chondrites. Future discovery of additional unweathered CH chondrites could provide deeper insight in the possible connection between this family of metal-rich carbonaceous chondrites and 21 Lutetia or other featureless, possibly hydrated high-albedo asteroids.

arXiv comment26 pages, 7 figures and 2 tables, Meteoritics and Planetary Science, manuscript #2225 (2016)

References in corpus (9)

• A new method to determine the grain size of planetary regolith
• Aqueous alteration on main belt primitive asteroids: results from visible spectroscopy
• Puzzling asteroid 21 Lutetia: our knowledge prior to the Rosetta fly-by
• Near-IR spectroscopy of asteroids 21 Lutetia, 89 Julia, 140 Siwa, 2181 Fogelin, and 5480 (1989YK8), potential targets for the Rosetta mission; remote observations campaign on IRTF
• UV to far-IR reflectance spectra of carbonaceous chondrites. I. Implications for remote characterization of dark primitive asteroids targeted by sample-return missions
• The triaxial ellipsoid dimensions, rotational pole, and bulk density of ESA Rosetta target asteroid (21) Lutetia
• Ultraviolet and visible photometry of asteroid (21) Lutetia using the Hubble Space Telescope
• Inhomogeneities on the surface of 21 Lutetia, the asteroid target of the Rosetta mission
• Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy of Components in Chondrites: Search for Processed Materials in Young Solar Systems and Comets

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Comparing the reflectivity of ungrouped carbonaceous chondrites with that of short period comets like 2P/Encke
• The Reflectance Spectra of CV-CK Carbonaceous chondrites from the Near Infrared to the Visible