Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Lutetia results demystified

Rosetta reveals the science and mystery of Asteroid Lutetia

I posted abstracts to the three Science articles about Lutetia a few posts ago. The linked article here gives a digestible precis of what was discovered.

In case you want to skip down to the bottom line, here it is:

The Rosetta data indicate that Lutetia is probably a primordial planetesimal, one of the building blocks from which the planets were born 4.5 billion years ago. Having survived numerous impacts, Lutetia can be regarded as an important missing link between smaller asteroids, which are often shattered rubble piles, and terrestrial planets such as Earth.

"This is a crucial step in understanding the asteroid belt," said Rita Schulz, ESA's Rosetta Project Scientist. "Having seen several members of the belt in the past that were all different in their own ways, we have now found a large and rather primordial body. Clearly, there is still much more to investigate before we understand the belt fully."

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