References & Sources

Deep encounter reveals asteroid’s ancestry

Infrared spectra taken by the Deep Space 1 spacecraft has identified the large asteroid Vesta as the likely parent of a tiny asteroid that in a few thousand years will cross Earth’s orbit.

References:

1999. Asteroid mystery in deep space: Siblings, or parent and child? NASA Press Release. August 5.

Further Readings:

Cowen, R. 1997. Big asteroid has big dent. Science News 152(Sept. 20):184.

______. 1992. Asteroids and meteorites: A new link. Science News 142(Oct. 24):286.

Sources:

Daniel Britt
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Department of Geological Sciences
Knoxville, TN 37996

From Science News, Vol. 156, No. 7, August 14, 1999, p. 103. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.