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Trojan asteroid spectroscopy and space weathering

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-49). / Trojan asteroids orbit the Sun at Jupiter's L4 and L5 stability points. They are included in the D-class group of asteroids because of their characteristically steep spectral slope. In accordance with spectra of other asteroid classes, we expected that the larger the diameter is of a D-class asteroid, the redder (visually) the asteroid should be in the visible spectrum. Approximately ninety Trojan asteroids have been examined, fourteen of which come from our own observations, and five of which are small and come from the SMASS I data set. The results did not confirm our original hypothesis. Instead, space weathering appears to affect Trojans in a different way than it does other asteroid classes due to their different composition. / by April A. Russell. / S.M.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/28614
Date January 2004
CreatorsRussell, April A. (April Anne), 1981-
ContributorsRichard P. Binzel., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.
PublisherMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Source SetsM.I.T. Theses and Dissertation
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Format49 leaves, 1599336 bytes, 1603054 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf
RightsM.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

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