Asteroid volatiles inventoryAsteroids appear in light of telescopic and meteority studies to be the most accessible repositories of early solar system history available. In the cooler regions of the outer asteroid belt, apparently unaffected by severe heating, the C, P, and D populations appear to harbor significant inventories of volatiles; the larger primordial belt population may have had an even greater percentage of volatile-rich, low-albedo asteroids, constituting a potent asteroid for veneering early terrestrial planet atmospheres. The volatile-rich asteroids contain carbon, structurally bound and adsorbed water, as well as remnants of interstellar material predating the solar system.
Document ID
19890056410
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Lebofsky, L. A. (Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Jones, T. D. (Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Herbert, F. (Arizona, University Tucson, United States)