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Asteroid Vesta Has Unique ‘Space Weathering’

By Guest PostNovember 1, 2012Scienceairless bodies, analysis, asteroid belt, brown university, carle pieters, dawn spacecraft, energetic particle, geologist, giant asteroid, gravitational characteristics, lunar surface, metal nanoparticle, mineral composition, moon, nanophase coatings, nanophase weathering, NASA, phenomenon, solar system, solar wind, space weathering, vaporized meteorite, vesta

Space weathering — a darkening of lunar surfaces by solar wind and metal nanoparticles from vaporized meteorites — appears to happen differently on Vesta, the largest body in the asteroid belt. The discovery, from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, has planetary geologists returning to their lunar data for another look and further analysis.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The surface of the giant asteroid Vesta is weathering in a way that appears to be completely different from any other asteroid yet visited, according to new data recorded by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. This new type of space weathering suggests that there’s something about Vesta — perhaps its mineral composition or its position in the solar system — that makes its surface environment fundamentally different from other asteroids studied thus far.

The new data are presented in a paper published Nov. 1, 2012, in the journal Nature. (more…)

Charles P. Sonett: the Legacy of a Pioneering Space Scientist

By Guest PostOctober 9, 2011Scienceames magnetic fields explorer, apollo program, arizona board of regents, astronomy, Berkeley, bernhard schmidt, charles chuck p sonett, charles p sonett, charles p sonett space sciences building, chuck, cycle, death valley, desert town, estonian optician, explorer 33 and 35, explorer program, geology, geophysical measurements, george willis ritchey, gerard p kuiper, global climate, henri jacques chrétien, hollywood high school, hungarian parents, j randy jokipii, japanese bombing of pearl harbor, los angeles, lpl, lunar and planetary laboratory, lunar orbiter magnetometer experiment, magnetosphere, michael j drake, pittsburgh, post apollo era, ritchey chrétien telescope, schmidt telescope, solar wind, space race, spacecraft, spacecraft missions, sputnik, stream of charged particles, sun, telescope optics, trona, university of california, us army air forces

*Charles P. Sonett, the first head of the UA’s department of planetary sciences, died at the age of 87. Sonett was involved in spacecraft missions that dramatically advanced our understanding of the solar system and beyond, including the Pioneer Program, the Explorer Program and the Apollo Program.*

Charles “Chuck” P. Sonett, a founding faculty member and the first department head of the University of Arizona’s department of planetary sciences, died on Sept. 30. He was 87.

As a space exploration pioneer, Sonett was involved in numerous spacecraft programs, including the Pioneer Program, the Explorer Program and the Apollo Program – missions that dramatically advanced our understanding of the solar system, its planets and moons and beyond. (more…)

Sun and Planets Constructed Differently, Analysis from Nasa Mission Suggests

By Guest PostJuly 3, 2011Sciencebernard marty, centre national de la recherche scientifique, dugway, earth, gaseous nebula, genesis mission, george jarzebinski, heavy elements, isotopes, isotopic composition of oxygen, kevin mckeegan, martian, megasims, NASA, neutrons, o 16, oxygen and nitrogen, oxygen atoms, oxygen on mars, Paris, planets, protons, rocky planet, roger wiens, secondary ion mass spectrometer, solar material, solar system, solar wind, sun, utah, utah test and training range, veronika heber

The sun and the solar system’s rocky inner planets, including the Earth, may have formed differently than previously thought, according to UCLA scientists and colleagues analyzing samples returned by NASA’s Genesis mission.

The data from Genesis, which collected material from the solar wind blowing from the sun, reveal differences between the sun and planets with regard to oxygen and nitrogen, two of the most abundant elements in our solar system, the researchers report in two studies in the June 24 issue of the journal Science. And although the differences are slight, the research could help determine how our solar system evolved. (more…)

Tag Archives: solar wind

Asteroid Vesta Has Unique ‘Space Weathering’

Charles P. Sonett: the Legacy of a Pioneering Space Scientist

Sun and Planets Constructed Differently, Analysis from Nasa Mission Suggests