SwRI Researchers Identify the Recent Breakup of an Asteroid

SwRI^TM Researchers Identify the Recent Breakup of an Asteroid

In a paper published in Nature (vol. 417, pp. 720-722; June 13, 2002 issue), SwRI scientists David Nesvorny, Bill Bottke, Luke Dones and Hal Levison identify the recent breakup of a main-belt asteroid. Nesvorny, et al. show that a group of 39 asteroids, the largest of which is 832 Karin, has orbital properties indicating a catastophic disruption 5.8 Myr ago. The relative youth of the Karin cluster may help scientists address important questions in asteroid geology and impact physics.

The full text of the article is available in Adobe PDF format at http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~davidn/papers/nesvorny-etal-karin-nature-2002.pdf

SwRITM Researchers Identify the Recent Breakup of an Asteroid

SwRI^TM Researchers Identify the Recent Breakup of an Asteroid