Basaltic asteroids in the Near-Earth Objects population: a mineralogical analysis

Duffard, R.; de León, J.; Licandro, J.; Lazzaro, D.; Serra-Ricart, M.
Bibliographical reference

Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 456, Issue 2, September III 2006, pp.775-781

Advertised on:
9
2006
Number of authors
5
IAC number of authors
2
Citations
16
Refereed citations
15
Description
Aims.We present reflectance spectra of three V-type Near-Earth Objects obtained at the 3.6 m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and at the 2.5 m Nordic Optical Telescope covering the near-infrared and visible range, respectively. The range from 0.5 to 2.5 μm, encompassing the 1 and 2 μm pyroxene features, allows a mineralogical characterization of these asteroids. Methods: .A preliminary analysis using the classical methods has been applied to establish some constraints on the surface mineralogy of these objects. Then, the Modified Gaussian Method was applied to gain further insight on the possible mineral components present in the surface of the objects. Results: .The comparison between these basaltic asteroids in near Earth orbits and the achondrite basaltic meteorites shows a quite clear mineralogical link, corroborating the long-standing hypothesis of the Near-Earth Objects population as the immediate source of these meteorites.