MASSED – Mapping Arrival times in the Solar System for Extraterrestrial Debris

par Patrick Shober

mardi 21 mars 2023, 11:00 → 13:00 Europe/Paris

Observatoire de Paris. Site de Paris. Salle Denisse

(rescheduled) - Over the previous century, scientists have collected >60,000 meteorites. These meteorites originally come from asteroids, primarily in the main asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. However, that is where things become unclear. Despite this vast collection, we still struggle to identify the asteroids or regions where these meteorites are derived. Current modeling and meteorite recovery networks have significantly helped us piece together the story of meteorites and, consequently, our solar system. Nevertheless, these models rely on rare cases where meteorites were precisely observed and orbital information was collected. Currently, only ~40 meteorites have been recovered in this manner. Instead, this project aims to create a novel numerical model of solar system debris that could be calibrated with data from tens of thousands of meteorites. Scientists can infer how long ago any meteorite was ejected from its parent asteroid by analyzing isotopic variations  - referred to as the cosmic-ray exposure age (CRE). Concurrently, our new model would be able to predict the transfer times from different regions of the main asteroid belt, enabling us to compare to the CRE ages found in meteorites and draw important conclusions about meteorite source regions.