Composition of the L5 Mars Trojans: Neighbors, not siblings |
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| Authors: | Andrew S. Rivkin David E. Trilling Cristina A. Thomas Francesca DeMeo Timothy B. Spahr Richard P. Binzel |
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| Affiliation: | aJohns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, MD 20723, USA;bSteward Observatory, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA;cDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA;dHarvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA |
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| Abstract: | Mars is the only terrestrial planet known to have Trojan (co-orbiting) asteroids, with a confirmed population of at least 4 objects. The origin of these objects is not known; while several have orbits that are stable on Solar System timescales, work by Rivkin et al. [Rivkin, A.S., Binzel, R.P., Howell, E.S., Bus, S.J., Grier, J.A., 2003. Icarus 165, 349–354] showed they have compositions that suggest separate origins from one another. We have obtained infrared (0.8–2.5 μm) spectroscopy of the two largest L5 Mars Trojans, and confirm and extend the results of Rivkin et al. We suggest that the differentiated angrite meteorites are good spectral analogs for 5261 Eureka, the largest Mars Trojan. Meteorite analogs for 101429 1998 VF31 are more varied and include primitive achondrites and mesosiderites. |
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| Keywords: | Asteroids Asteroids, composition Trojan asteroids |
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