Letter to Nature | April 29, 2010

 

Water Ice and Organics on the Surface of the Asteroid 24 Themis

 

Humberto Campins | Kelsey Hargrove | Noemi Pinilla-Alonso | Ellen S. Howell | Michael S. Kelley | Javier Licandro | T. Mothé-Diniz | Y. Fernandez | Julie Ziffer

 

                                                                                                                                      .

  SUMMARY 

The presence of water in asteroids is relevant to the origin of and evolution of our Solar System and of Earth's oceans.  Until now, no measurements of water ice on asteroids had been made. However, a tantalizing hint that water ice exists in the Themis asteroid family came from the comet-like activity of two small members of this family. Our new infrared spectra of asteroid 24 Themis indicate water ice and organic molecules are not only present, but are also widespread on its surface. Our identification of ice and organics on this asteroid agrees with independent results that rule out other compounds as possible explanations for our observations.

IMPLICATIONS 

Our results help to address important questions, such as, how abundant is water ice in the asteroid belt and where was the "snow line" when the solar system formed?  The answers to these questions could transform current views of primitive asteroids, the delivery of water and organic molecules to Earth, and the origin of life on Earth.

ABOUT THE IMAGE

The image, above left, is an artist conception of asteroid 24 Themis and two small fragments of this dynamical family, which resulted from a large impact more than one billion years ago. Note that one of the small fragments is inert (as most asteroids are) and the other has a comet-like tail, produced by the sublimation of water ice from its surface. Figure credit: G. Pérez (Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Spain)


LINK TO NATURE PUBLICATION

Water ice and organics on the surface of the asteroid 24 Themis

 


CONTACTS

Christine Dellert
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Dr. Humberto Campins
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Kelsey Hargrove
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Dr. Yan Fernandez
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