(21) Lutetia: Lesson Learned from the Rosetta Flyby
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43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2012) 1586.pdf SURFACE COMPOSITION OF ASTEROID (21) LUTETIA: LESSON LEARNED FROM THE ROSETTA FLYBY. M.A. Barucci1, I. Belskaya2,1, M. Fulchignoni1, S. Fornasier1, C. Leyrat1, 1LESIA-Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Univ. Pierre et Marie Curie, Univ. Paris Diderot, 92195 Meudon Principal Cedex, France (antonella.barucci @obspm.fr), 2Institute of Astronomy, Kharkiv National University, 61022 Kharkiv, Ukraine. Introduction: During the close encounter of the particularly difficult to interpret [3] due to the lack of Rosetta spacecraft with (21) Lutetia on July 10, 2010, laboratory data at these wavelengths. the instruments OSIRIS, VIRTIS, ALICE, and MIRO A temperature map has been derived that shows were turned on to characterize the surface properties of good agreement between the values measured by the asteroid. Even with the obtained results, the ambi- MIRO and VIRTIS [2,4]. The thermal inertia has been guity in understanding Lutetia’s surface composition found to be between 20 and 30 Jm-2K-1s-0.5 implying a still exists. We have assembled and analysed the in- surface which, on a gross scale, is uniformly covered formation available from space missions (Rosetta, Her- by a fine regolith. This low thermal inertia value has schel and Spitzer) and ground observations collected also been confirmed by observations of (21) Lutetia over 30+ years to interpret the Lutetia’s surface com- performed by the instruments onboard the Herschel position. spacecraft at longer wavelengths, complementary to Rosetta results: During the flyby, Lutetia was those covered by VIRTIS and MIRO [5]. seen at pole-on aspect and consequently only the Combining the volume determined by OSIRIS northern hemisphere was observed. The images taken imaging [1] and the mass determined by the RSI exper- by OSIRIS cameras [1] reveal a complex geology. iment [6], Lutetia’s bulk density of 3400±300 kg m-3 Lutetia appears to be a very old object with an irregu- has been determined. This is one of the highest known lar shape resulting from its collisional history. Some densities of any asteroid and it is similar to that of the smooth, younger areas have also been observed. Con- differentiated asteroid (4) Vesta. tinuous bombardment over Lutetia’s lifetime has creat- Ground observations results: Ground-based ob- ed several large and numerous small craters. About servations of Lutetia using many different techniques 350 craters have been counted with diameters between have been performed over the last 30 years. In particu- 600 m and 55 km. The North Pole, in the Baetica re- lar, spectral measurements have been obtained at mul- gion, is covered by a thick layer of regolith, which tiple aspects covering most of Lutetia’s surface. Ba- flows in major landslides, most likely generated by rucci et al [7] reanalyzed all the available measure- impact-induced seismic activity. The sparse presence ments in different spectral ranges. Systematic differ- of dark boulders inside some big craters, indicates a ences were found in the visible and near-infrared spec- complex impact mechanism. Variations on Lutetia tra of the northern and southern hemisphere. In terms surface have been highlighted and are clearly connect- of taxonomy, spectral properties of the southern sur- ed to different composition and morphology. The im- face are more C-like while the spectra of the northern ages display albedo variations and a great richness of surface are more X-like. This confirms previous find- different structures: pits, craters chains, ridges, scarps. ings by Nedelcu et al. [8] and Lazzarin et al. [9]. Lutetia is likely a remnant of the primordial planetesi- Moreover Rivkin et al. [10] showed that the 3-µm mal population. band depths were deeper for the southern hemisphere. The analysis of the spectral data obtained by To fit the spectral behavior, the closest analogues VIRTIS [2] revealed featureless spectra between 0.5 among the available meteorites are some types of car- and 5.0 µm. Beyond 3.5 µm the radiance spectra are bonaceous chondrites and in a few cases enstatite characterized by the presence of thermal emission chondrites. Nedelcu et al. [8] showed that some of from the surface superimposed on the solar reflected Lutetia’s spectra were fitted better with carbonaceous radiance. No olivine or pyroxene signatures of the 1 chondrites while others were fitted better with enstatite and 2 µm bands are evident in the spectra, nor were chondrites. They also mentioned as a possible ana- mineral aqueous alteration bands detected at 1.9, 2.7 or logue the meteorite Kaidun. 3 µm. Moreover, no organic material was identified at Mid-infrared data obtained with the Spitzer space 3.3-3.6 µm. telescope are also available on Lutetia [11]. The most The UV ALICE imaging spectrometer results re- diagnostic features in the analysis of mid-infared spec- port no gas emissions around Lutetia. A precipitous tra are the Christiansen peak, the Restrstrahlen, and the drop between 180 and 160 nm has been measured Transparency features. The Christiansen peak is the which represents the strongest spectral feature detected most important as it is connected to mineralogy and by Rosetta instruments. No similar feature has been grain size. From the analysis of the Spitzer data, Lute- observed in the UV reflectance of any asteroid and it is tia spectra, taken a nearly equatorial view, are similar to CO and CV carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, par- 43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2012) 1586.pdf ticularly at small grain sizes. The Spitzer spectra show bonaceous chondrites of higher petrological types and a clear Christiansen peak at 9.3 micron which is typical enstatite chondrites [6]. of carbonaceous chondrites and rules out the links with The surface of Lutetia is most probably composed available spectra of enstatite chondrite meteorites for of a variety of materials similar to chondrites. The which the principal Christensen feature measured is at composition of some regions (predominantly in the 8.3 µm. southern hemisphere) seems more similar to carbona- Lutetia also exhibits particular polarization proper- ceous chondrites (like CV, CO, CK) while that of the ties. The polarization phase function of Lutetia differs northern hemisphere could be more similar to a mix- from that of any other asteroids measured so far [12]. ture of enstatite and carbonaceous chondrites. Among studied meteorites, similar polarization proper- An aggregate of different materials could be pos- ties were found for pulverized samples of CV3 and sible as was found in some particles of the comet 81/P CO3 carbonaceous chondrites. Wild 2, and in the Kaidun and Almahata Sitta meteor- Radar data are consistent with composition similar ites. In fact, the laboratory analysis of small grains to either enstatite chondrites or particular types of met- returned to Earth by the Stardust mission revealed an al-rich carbonaceous chondrites [13] . unexpected mixture of materials formed in different Discussion: All available data show that Lutetia’s regions of the planetary disk. The extremely heteroge- surface composition is particular with respect to other neous meteorite Kaidun shows assemblages of material studied asteroids. None of the known meteorites exact- ranging from CM to enstatite chondrite clasts which ly matches all measured Lutetia’s properties. have been interpreted as the result of collisional for- A search for the best meteorite analogue by mation of its parent body from asteroids having differ- matching featureless asteroid and meteorite spectra ent composition (E, D, C). The mechanism for should be taken with caution. It was shown that the transport of these diverse materials within Kaidun all particle size distribution of laboratory samples greatly in one parent body must have involved numerous im- affects spectral parameters such as the slopes and the pacts. In the same way, the complicated surface com- depths of absorption bands. Fine-grained mixtures of position of Lutetia could be explained by an unknown components with different optical properties (irons, peculiar material resulting from collisions of objects silicates, carbon) can drastically alter the spectral re- with different composition [7]. flectivity and suppress silicate bands. Another problem Conclusions: After the Rosetta flyby, Lutetia’s in comparing meteorite and asteroid spectra is con- composition remains a puzzle. Lutetia is clearly an old nected to space weathering of asteroid surfaces due to object (about 3.5 Ga), possibly partially differentiated micrometeorite impacts, solar wind, etc. while meteor- [15], with a highly complex surface and a particular ites could have suffered terrestrial weathering. Inter- surface composition probably due to a mixture of "in- pretation of spectra with no signatures are in general compatible'' types of materials, like carbonaceous and inconclusive. Arguments given by Vernazza et al. [14] enstatite chondrites, which may have aggregated due to in support of enstatite chondrite composition of Lutetia impacts. look one-sided. Their analysis involved only one near- Only in-situ examination or sample return could infrared spectrum and an ad hoc comparison of Lute- allow us to solve the puzzle of the surface composition tia’s mid-infrared data with the KBr-diluted spectra of of this intriguing object. enstatite chondrites. Vernazza et al. [14] postulated References : [1] Sierks H. et al. (2011), Science, that Lutetia’s surface scattering is dominated by the 334, 487-490. [2] Coradini A. et al., (2011) Science, fine-grained components but ignored particle-size ef- 334, 487-492-494. [3] Stern S.A. et at. (2011) Astron. fect when compared with carbonaceos chondrites. J., 141, 199-202. [4] Gulkis S. et al. (2011) Plan. The moderate geometric albedo of Lutetia is of- Space Sci. Special Issue, in press. [5] O’Rourke L. et ten invoked to argue against carbonaceous-chondrite al. (2011) Plan. Space Sci. Special Issue, in press. [6] surface compositions. However, direct comparison of Pätzold M.