Variations in color and reflectance on the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu

D N DellaGiustina^{1

2}, K N Burke³, K J Walsh⁴, P H Smith³, D R Golish³, E B Bierhaus⁵, R-L Ballouz³, T L Becker³, H Campins⁶, E Tatsumi^{7

8}, K Yumoto⁸, S Sugita⁸, J D Prasanna Deshapriya⁹, E A Cloutis¹⁰, B E Clark¹¹, A R Hendrix¹², A Sen¹¹, M M Al Asad¹³, M G Daly¹⁴, D M Applin¹⁰, C Avdellidou¹⁵, M A Barucci⁹, K J Becker³, C A Bennett³, W F Bottke⁴, J I Brodbeck³, H C Connolly Jr¹⁶, M Delbo¹⁵, J de Leon⁷, C Y Drouet d'Aubigny³, K L Edmundson³, S Fornasier^{9

17}, V E Hamilton⁴, P H Hasselmann⁹, C W Hergenrother³, E S Howell³, E R Jawin¹⁸, H H Kaplan¹⁹, L Le Corre¹², L F Lim¹⁸, J Y Li¹², P Michel¹⁵, J L Molaro¹², M C Nolan³, J Nolau⁵, M Pajola²⁰, A Parkinson¹⁰, M Popescu^{21

7}, N A Porter³, B Rizk³, J L Rizos⁷, A J Ryan³, B Rozitis²², N K Shultz³, A A Simon¹⁹, D Trang²³, R B Van Auken³, C W V Wolner³, D S Lauretta³

Affiliations

¹ Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. danidg@lpl.arizona.edu.
² Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
³ Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁴ Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, USA.
⁵ Lockheed Martin Space, Littleton, CO, USA.
⁶ Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA.
⁷ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
⁸ Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan.
⁹ LESIA (Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique), Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL (Paris Sciences & Lettres), CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Université de Paris, Sorbonne Université, 92195 Meudon, France.
¹⁰ Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, USA.
¹² Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA.
¹³ Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹⁴ The Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁵ Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France.
¹⁶ Department of Geology, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA.
¹⁷ Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), 1 rue Descartes, 75231 Paris CEDEX 05, France.
¹⁸ Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁹ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
²⁰ Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Padua, Italy.
²¹ Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania.
²² The School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.
²³ University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, Honolulu, HI, USA.

PMID: 33033157
DOI: 10.1126/science.abc3660

Variations in color and reflectance on the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu

D N DellaGiustina et al. Science. 2020.

. 2020 Nov 6;370(6517):eabc3660.

doi: 10.1126/science.abc3660. Epub 2020 Oct 8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. danidg@lpl.arizona.edu.
² Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
³ Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁴ Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, USA.
⁵ Lockheed Martin Space, Littleton, CO, USA.
⁶ Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA.
⁷ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
⁸ Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan.
⁹ LESIA (Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique), Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL (Paris Sciences & Lettres), CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Université de Paris, Sorbonne Université, 92195 Meudon, France.
¹⁰ Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, USA.
¹² Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA.
¹³ Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹⁴ The Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁵ Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France.
¹⁶ Department of Geology, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA.
¹⁷ Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), 1 rue Descartes, 75231 Paris CEDEX 05, France.
¹⁸ Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁹ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
²⁰ Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Padua, Italy.
²¹ Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania.
²² The School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.
²³ University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, Honolulu, HI, USA.

PMID: 33033157
DOI: 10.1126/science.abc3660

Abstract

Visible-wavelength color and reflectance provide information about the geologic history of planetary surfaces. Here we present multispectral images (0.44 to 0.89 micrometers) of near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. The surface has variable colors overlain on a moderately blue global terrain. Two primary boulder types are distinguishable by their reflectance and texture. Space weathering of Bennu surface materials does not simply progress from red to blue (or vice versa). Instead, freshly exposed, redder surfaces initially brighten in the near-ultraviolet region (i.e., become bluer at shorter wavelengths), then brighten in the visible to near-infrared region, leading to Bennu's moderately blue average color. Craters indicate that the time scale of these color changes is ~10⁵ years. We attribute the reflectance and color variation to a combination of primordial heterogeneity and varying exposure ages.

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Variations in color and reflectance on the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu

Affiliations

Variations in color and reflectance on the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Publication types

Associated data

LinkOut - more resources

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