1. Low‐temperature thermal properties of iron meteorites.
- Author
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Noyes, Christopher S., Consolmagno, Guy. J., Macke, Robert J., Britt, Daniel T., and Opeil, Cyril P.
- Subjects
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IRON meteorites , *THERMAL conductivity , *SPECIFIC heat capacity , *THERMAL properties , *ASTEROIDS , *THERMAL diffusivity , *VALUES (Ethics) , *IRON-nickel alloys - Abstract
We have measured the thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of subsamples from four iron meteorites with nickel concentrations between 5% and 8% (Agoudal, Canyon Diablo, Muonionalusta, and Sikhote‐Alin) at temperatures between 5 and 300 K. From these, we have calculated their thermal diffusivity and thermal inertia values across this temperature range. For comparison, we also measured subsamples from two L chondrites (NWA 11038 and NWA 11344) at the same time, using the same methods. The thermal diffusivity results of the irons show a relatively constant value for T > 100 K with a characteristic low‐temperature maxima at ∼5 K for the iron meteorites; by contrast, the diffusivities of the L chondrites fell by a factor of two over this range and reached low‐temperature maxima at ∼20 K. Thermal inertia values show a crossover behavior, with a strong increase in thermal inertia as temperatures drop below 55 K and a less dramatic change at higher temperatures. Our new diffusivity and inertia values cover a wider range of temperatures than previous literature data for iron meteorites. They also provide a useful ground truth in understanding remotely sensed thermal inertias of potentially metal‐rich asteroids, including 16 Psyche, target of the NASA Psyche mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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