IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v413y2001i6854d10.1038_35096513.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Shoemaker crater as the source of most ejecta blocks on the asteroid 433 Eros

Author

Listed:
  • P. C. Thomas

    (Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University)

  • J. Veverka

    (Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University)

  • M. S. Robinson

    (Northwestern University)

  • S. Murchie

    (Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University)

Abstract

The loose material—regolith—on the surfaces of asteroids is thought to represent ballistically emplaced ejecta from impacts1,2 but the identification of source craters and the detailed study of the regolith modification have been hampered by the limited spatial resolution and area coverage of the few asteroids imaged by spacecraft. Here we report the results of global mapping of the asteroid 433 Eros from high-resolution images obtained by the NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft. Based on the images and ejecta-emplacement models, we suggest that most large ejecta blocks on Eros originate from a relatively young 7.6-km-diameter crater. A large fraction of the ejecta from impacts pre-dating that crater has apparently been buried or eroded. The images also show evidence for the action of a variety of sorting environments for regolith particles after they are deposited on the surface.

Suggested Citation

  • P. C. Thomas & J. Veverka & M. S. Robinson & S. Murchie, 2001. "Shoemaker crater as the source of most ejecta blocks on the asteroid 433 Eros," Nature, Nature, vol. 413(6854), pages 394-396, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:413:y:2001:i:6854:d:10.1038_35096513
    DOI: 10.1038/35096513
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/35096513
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/35096513?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:413:y:2001:i:6854:d:10.1038_35096513. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.