{"id":1072,"date":"2022-10-25T10:16:34","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T14:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/?p=1072"},"modified":"2022-10-25T10:16:36","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T14:16:36","slug":"shock-darkened-meteorites-source","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/shock-darkened-meteorites-source\/","title":{"rendered":"Shock-darkened Meteorites – Asteroid 1998 OR2 A Possible Source"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the Chelyabinsk fireball explosion<\/a> in 2013, a type of meteorite that is rare fell to Earth. The dark veins, which are a result of a process known as shock darkening, are what distinguish the Chelyabinsk meteorites from others of a similar type.<\/p>\n

But until now, scientists haven’t been able to figure out which nearby asteroid these meteorites may have come from.<\/p>\n

The asteroid 1998 OR2 has now been identified by scientists as one potential source of shock-darkened meteorites. The 1.5-mile-wide near-Earth asteroid passed by the planet in close proximity in April 2020.<\/p>\n

What Is Shock Darkening<\/h2>\n

Asteroids that fragment into space and then crash to Earth are referred to as meteorites.<\/p>\n

In ordinary chondrites, the shock-darkening or shock-blackening process involves melting iron sulphides and metals. They create a network of tiny melt veins by melting solid silicate grain boundaries and cracks.<\/p>\n

\u201cShock darkening is an alteration process caused when something impacts a planetary body hard enough that the temperatures partially or fully melt those rocks and alter their appearance both to the human eye and in our data,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

said Adam Battle. A graduate student studying planetary science at the University of Arizona, Battle is the study’s lead author.<\/p>\n

Meteorites often go through this process, but asteroids outside of the main asteroid belt, which is between Mars<\/a> and Jupiter, don’t do it very often.<\/p>\n

Impact Melted Or Shock-darkened Meteorites Rare<\/h2>\n

Asteroids and other solid bodies in the solar system get hit by things frequently. Scientists can see where these things hit by looking at images taken by spacecraft<\/a>. However, these bodies rarely produce impact melt or shock-darkening effects on meteorites that come from them.<\/p>\n

Professor of planetary sciences Vishnu Reddy, Battle’s advisor and co-author of the study, first noticed shock darkening on main belt asteroids in 2013 and 2014. Reddy works with engineering professor Roberto Furfaro to run the Space Domain Awareness lab at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Since 2019, Battle has been employed by the lab.<\/p>\n

“Finding a near-Earth asteroid dominated by this process has implications for impact hazard assessment,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Reddy said.<\/p>\n

Adam’s research has shown that shock darkening can make common chondrite asteroids show up in classification tools as being made of carbon. When attempting to deflect a dangerous asteroid, it is important to consider the physical strengths of these two materials.<\/p>\n

Asteroid 1998 OR2 Carbonaceous Or Chondrite?<\/h2>\n