Monday, November 22, 2010

How they knew the dust in Hayabusa was from Itokawa; fast-spinning asteroid

Interesting short article about how the determination was made that the miniscule motes of dust found in the Hayabusa sample chamber (chamber A; they haven't opened chamber B yet) were extraterrestrial dust from the asteroid and not terrestrial contamination. To put it basically, they were the sames composition as the asteroid was expected to be based on other observations, and they weren't the composition of dust either from where Hayabusa launched or where it landed.

Hayabusa confirms return of asteroid particles

Another short article indicates that the asteroidal pipsqueak that went by us a few days ago was a spinner (cricket term, as the Ashes in Oz are coming up fast); it completed a full rotation in 31 seconds.

Tiny asteroid that buzzed Earth is a fast-spinning rock

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