高级检索

小行星太空风化暴露年龄研究

A Study on Space Weathering Exposure Ages of Asteroids

  • 摘要: 太空风化是作用于天体表面的重要物理与化学过程,会显著改变小行星的反射光谱特征,从而影响对其表面成分与演化过程的分析。获得小行星的太空风化暴露年龄有助于揭示其表面风化累积与刷新过程,并为表面矿物组成的可靠反演提供约束与校正依据。选取 10 颗近地小行星、10 颗越火小行星以及 15 颗主带小行星,基于 SMASS 与 SpeX 数据获得的可见光—近红外反射光谱,采用 Shkuratov 模型与风化函数反演小行星太空风化暴露年龄。研究表明,近地小行星太空风化暴露年龄分布在 4.06 × 104~1.59 × 106 yr,越火小行星为 3.20 × 105~2.13 × 106 yr,主带小行星集中在 2.09 × 105~2.93 × 106 yr。分组统计结果显示,近地小行星的平均暴露年龄最低,为 3.44 × 105 yr;越火小行星居中,为 9.83 × 105 yr;主带小行星最高,为 1.42 × 106 yr。小行星轨道半长轴与太空风化暴露年龄整体呈正相关趋势,表明不同轨道环境下硅酸盐小行星的表面风化累积程度存在系统性差异。尽管近地小行星处于比主带更强的太阳风辐照环境中,其平均暴露年龄仍显著小于主带小行星,说明除太阳风辐照外,行星近距离遭遇、微撞击、热疲劳和颗粒迁移等表面刷新过程也可能在控制其风化状态方面发挥重要作用。本文获得的太空风化暴露年龄为光谱模型约束下的等效时间尺度,主要用于比较不同轨道类型小行星之间的相对风化程度,且主要适用于S型小行星。本研究为太阳系小天体表层风化时间尺度定量反演及风化—刷新演化机制提供了方法参考。

     

    Abstract: Space weathering is an important physical and chemical process acting on the surfaces of celestial bodies. It can significantly modify the reflectance spectra of asteroids and consequently affect the interpretation of their surface compositions and evolutionary histories. Determining the space-weathering exposure ages of asteroids helps reveal how surface weathering accumulates and resets, and provides constraints and calibration for reliably inverting surface mineralogical composition. In this study, a sample of 10 near-Earth asteroids, 10 Mars-crossing asteroids, and 15 main-belt asteroids was selected. Based on visible–near-infrared reflectance spectra obtained from SMASS and SpeX data, the space-weathering exposure ages of these asteroids were derived using the Shkuratov model combined with a weathering function. The results show that the exposure ages of near-Earth asteroids range from 4.06 × 104 to 1.59 × 106 yr, those of Mars-crossing asteroids range from 3.20 × 105 to 2.13 × 106 yr, and those of main-belt asteroids are concentrated between 2.09 × 105 and 2.93 × 106 yr. Statistical analysis indicates that near-Earth asteroids have the lowest mean exposure age, 3.44 × 105 yr, followed by Mars-crossing asteroids with a mean value of 9.83 × 105 yr, whereas main-belt asteroids have the highest mean exposure age, 1.42 × 106 yr. A positive correlation is observed between the semi-major axis and the space-weathering exposure age, suggesting systematic differences in the accumulation of surface weathering among silicate asteroids in different orbital environments. Although near-Earth asteroids experience stronger solar-wind irradiation than main-belt asteroids, their average exposure ages are significantly younger, indicating that resurfacing processes such as planetary encounters, micrometeoroid impacts, thermal fatigue, and regolith migration may also play important roles in controlling their surface weathering states. The space-weathering exposure ages derived in this work should be regarded as model-constrained equivalent timescales, mainly used for comparing the relative weathering degrees among different orbital classes. This study provides quantitative constraints on the surface weathering timescales and weathering–resurfacing evolution of small bodies in the Solar System.

     

/

返回文章
返回