Ion irradiation of carbonaceous chondrites as a simulation of space weathering on C-complex asteroids
Abstract
We are investigating the effects of space weathering on primitive asteroids using ion irradiation on their meteoritic analogs. To do so, we exposed several carbonaceous chondrites (CV Allende, COs Lancé and Frontier Mountain 95002, CM Mighei, CI Alais, and ungrouped Tagish Lake) to 40 keV He+ ions as a simulation of solar wind irradiation using fluences up to 6.1016 ions/cm2 (implantation platform IRMA at CSNSM Orsay). As a test for our new experimental setup, we also studied samples of olivine and diopside. We confirm the reddening and darkening trends on S-type objects, but carbonaceous chondrites present a continuum of behaviors after ion irradiation as a function of the initial albedo and carbon content: from red to blue and from dark to bright.
- Publication:
-
European Planetary Science Congress
- Pub Date:
- October 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015EPSC...10..138L