Origin of Dark Material on VESTA from DAWN FC Data: Remnant Carbonaceous Chondrite Impators

Authors :: Reddy, V
LeCorre, L
Nathues, A
Mittlefehldt, David W
Cloutis, E. A
OBrien, D. P
Durda, D. D
Bottke, W. F
Buczkowski, D
Scully, J. E. C
Palmer, E. M
Sierks, H
Mann, P. J
Becker, K. J
Beck, A. W
Li, Y-Y
Gaskell, R
Russell, C. T
Gaffey, M. J
McSween, H. Y
McCord, T. B
Combe, J.-P
Blewett, D
Publication Year :: 2012
Publisher :: United States: NASA Center for Aerospace Information (CASI), 2012.
Abstract: NASA's Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around asteroid (4) Vesta in July 2011 for a yearlong mapping orbit. The surface of Vesta as imaged by the Dawn Framing Camera (FC) revealed a surface that is unlike any asteroid we have visited so far with a spacecraft. Albedo and color variations on Vesta are the most diverse in the asteroid belt with a majority of these linked to distinct compositional units on the asteroid s surface. FC discovered dark material on Vesta. These low albedo surface features were first observed during Rotational Characterization 3 phase at a resolution of approx. 487 m/pixel. Here we explore the composition and possible meteoritical analogs for the dark material on Vesta.

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