mage of the crater Numisia on Vesta, where researchers found the spectral signature of serpentine. Picture taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
Posted on 07/02/2014 9:40:24 PM PDT by BenLurkin
While “dark materials” may leave some of us thinking about a certain Philip Pullman book series, on the asteroid Vesta its presence belies something equally exotic: old smaller asteroid impacts on its surface.
The dark stuff on the lighter surface has puzzled researchers since it was discovered in 2011 (and has been brought up in other studies), but a new team says it has found that serpentine is among the components. Because that mineral can’t survive temperatures that are more than 400 degrees Celsius (752 degrees Fahrenheit), this means that scenarios such as volcanic eruptions can’t have caused it. This leaves only smaller asteroids, the team says.
mage of the crater Numisia on Vesta, where researchers found the spectral signature of serpentine. Picture taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
Interesting.
Thanks for posting.
“The results came from analyzing images....” This is pure conjecture, nothing more. Images, images, you say???? I have an image of an old girlfriend and it means nothing!
Say no more, say no more.
Oh, sure.
Blame the snakes.
Serpentine- “a dark green mineral consisting of hydrated magnesium silicate, sometimes mottled or spotted like a snake’s skin.”
News to me.
Aw, go ahead and post it.
We’ll be happy to analyze her for you.
That says a lot about you.
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