Book contents
- Vesta and Ceres: Insights from the Dawn Mission for the Origin of the Solar System
- Cambridge Planetary Science
- Vesta and Ceres
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Part I Remote Observations and Exploration of Main Belt Asteroids
- Part II Key Results from Dawn’s Exploration of Vesta and Ceres
- 3 Protoplanet Vesta and HED Meteorites
- 4 The Internal Evolution of Vesta
- 5 Geomorphology of Vesta
- 6 The Surface Composition of Vesta
- 7 Ceres’ Surface Composition
- 8 Carbon and Organic Matter on Ceres
- 9 Ammonia on Ceres
- 10 Geomorphology of Ceres
- 11 Ceres’ Internal Evolution
- 12 Geophysics of Vesta and Ceres
- Part III Implications for the Formation and Evolution of the Solar System
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
- References
6 - The Surface Composition of Vesta
from Part II - Key Results from Dawn’s Exploration of Vesta and Ceres
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 April 2022
- Vesta and Ceres: Insights from the Dawn Mission for the Origin of the Solar System
- Cambridge Planetary Science
- Vesta and Ceres
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Part I Remote Observations and Exploration of Main Belt Asteroids
- Part II Key Results from Dawn’s Exploration of Vesta and Ceres
- 3 Protoplanet Vesta and HED Meteorites
- 4 The Internal Evolution of Vesta
- 5 Geomorphology of Vesta
- 6 The Surface Composition of Vesta
- 7 Ceres’ Surface Composition
- 8 Carbon and Organic Matter on Ceres
- 9 Ammonia on Ceres
- 10 Geomorphology of Ceres
- 11 Ceres’ Internal Evolution
- 12 Geophysics of Vesta and Ceres
- Part III Implications for the Formation and Evolution of the Solar System
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
- References
Summary
Vesta's surface composition provides insights on its internal structure, geological evolution, and space environment. The bulk igneous composition, the link to the howardite–eucrite–diogenite (HED) meteorites, and the differentiation into a crust and a mantle were confirmed by telescopic observations and by the Dawn mission. This chapter presents several key topics. The distribution of indigenous materials helps in understanding the structure and mineralogy of the crust and the thickness of the mantle as an insight to the geological evolution and history of the whole body. Hydroxylated, low-albedo areas indicate exogenous materials and widespread contamination of the surface by carbonaceous chondrites; this main result from the Dawn mission also has implications for the collisional history of Ceres. Finally, the characterization of surficial processes on Vesta clarifies the role of space weathering and lateral mixing. The surface composition studied from telescopic observations, geochemical measurements of the HED meteorites, and from the Dawn mission at Vesta is based on reflectance imaging spectroscopy, high-resolution imagery, and elemental data from gamma-ray and neutron spectroscopy. This chapter includes analyses of data from the Visible and InfraRed mapping spectrometer that benefited from improved instrument calibrations developed after the Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres.
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- Vesta and CeresInsights from the Dawn Mission for the Origin of the Solar System, pp. 81 - 104Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022