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AST 103 02-13-18 lecture notes (Ceres is much closer to Earth (Salty…
AST 103 02-13-18 lecture notes
On/around this day in history
OSIRIS REx
Sample return from asteroid Bennu
NEA Near Earth Asteroid
500 meters across
Carbon-rich
Some of earliest forming material in the solar system
Launched 09/2017
Will reach Bennu 08/2018
Samples will return around 2023
To be a planet, or not to be ... that is the question
Dwarf planets
Enough mass to be approximately spherical
Rock and ice
Thin atmospheres
Elliptical orbit (higher eccentricity than the planets)
More inclined
Nice model
Neptune shifted away from the Sun, disturbing orbits of dwarf planets
Most are in Kuiper Belt, except for Ceres
originally classified as an asteroid
Distinguishing dwarf planets from planets
Planets
Orbit the Sun
Nearly round shape
Not a moon
Has cleared its neighborhood
Most dwarf planets have not cleared their neighborhoods
Interesting because they can tell us about the early stages of planet formation
Pluto: top findings from New Horizons Mission
Pluto's surface is young
Lack of craters
10 mya in some areas
Moon Charon has an old surface
Some areas 4 bya
Binary system (only one in our solar system)
Charon and Pluto orbit each other
Pluto's composition is complex
Methane, Nitrogen. Water
Small satellties
Have high albedo
Most things in Kuiper Belt have low albedo
Large impact with Pluto, recoalesced
Were moved there from somewhere else
Ceres is much closer to Earth
About the size of Texas
Has a lot of small craters in one area
Ice-rich mantle: smoothing
Salty surface
Magnesium and sulfur
Ammonia NH3
Probably did not form in Asteroid Belt
Bright spot: may be salty material