Linked Life Data

16148926

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/16148926

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
7056
pubmed:dateCreated
2005-9-8
pubmed:abstractText
The accretion of bodies in the asteroid belt was halted nearly 4.6 billion years ago by the gravitational influence of the newly formed giant planet Jupiter. The asteroid belt therefore preserves a record of both this earliest epoch of Solar System formation and variation of conditions within the solar nebula. Spectral features in reflected sunlight indicate that some asteroids have experienced sufficient thermal evolution to differentiate into layered structures. The second most massive asteroid--4 Vesta--has differentiated to a crust, mantle and core. 1 Ceres, the largest and most massive asteroid, has in contrast been presumed to be homogeneous, in part because of its low density, low albedo and relatively featureless visible reflectance spectrum, similar to carbonaceous meteorites that have suffered minimal thermal processing. Here we show that Ceres has a shape and smoothness indicative of a gravitationally relaxed object. Its shape is significantly less flattened than that expected for a homogeneous object, but is consistent with a central mass concentration indicative of differentiation. Possible interior configurations include water-ice-rich mantles over a rocky core.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:status
PubMed-not-MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Sep
pubmed:issn
1476-4687
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
8
pubmed:volume
437
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
224-6
pubmed:year
2005
pubmed:articleTitle
Differentiation of the asteroid Ceres as revealed by its shape.
pubmed:affiliation
Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. thomas@baritone.astro.cornell.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article