Análisis de espectros basálticos en Vesta

Abstract

The basaltic surface of the asteroid Vesta says a lot about its origin and the Solar System itself. A surface of these characteristics implies the differentiation of the body, in which the densest materials move to the center of the asteroid and the lighter ones remain on the surface, thus creating a crust, mantle and core. Vesta, according to a large number of studies, suffered this differentiation in the first stages of the formation of the Solar System. When the Solar System was taking its current shape with the migration of the giant planets to the current orbits and the subsequent formation of the terrestrial planets from the initial protoplanetary disk, there was a vestige of those protoplanets that could not form a larger planet. These vestiges took the shape of the main asteroid belt that we know today. For this reason, it is currently thought that the study of these asteroids could help to understand the primordial Solar System, and especially in the case of Vesta, since it is the smallest differentiated body known and can provide clues to the mechanisms of differentiation that affected terrestrial planets in the same way, including ours.