Dawn at Vesta: Testing the Protoplanetary Paradigm

@article{Russell2012DawnAV,
  title={Dawn at Vesta: Testing the Protoplanetary Paradigm},
  author={C. Russell and C. Raymond and A. Coradini and H. Mcsween and M. Zuber and A. Nathues and M. D. De Sanctis and R. Jaumann and A. Konopliv and F. Preusker and S. Asmar and R. Park and R. Gaskell and H. Keller and S. Mottola and T. Roatsch and J. Scully and D. Smith and P. Tricarico and M. Toplis and U. Christensen and W. Feldman and D. Lawrence and T. McCoy and T. Prettyman and R. Reedy and M. Sykes and T. Titus},
  journal={Science},
  year={2012},
  volume={336},
  pages={684 - 686}
}
A New Dawn Since 17 July 2011, NASA's spacecraft Dawn has been orbiting the asteroid Vesta—the second most massive and the third largest asteroid in the solar system (see the cover). Russell et al. (p. 684) use Dawn's observations to confirm that Vesta is a small differentiated planetary body with an inner core, and represents a surviving proto-planet from the earliest epoch of solar system formation; Vesta is also confirmed as the source of the howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) meteorites… Expand
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361 Citations

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The Violent Collisional History of Asteroid 4 Vesta
TLDR
Dawn observations confirm that Vesta is a small differentiated planetary body with an inner core, and represents a surviving proto-planet from the earliest epoch of solar system formation, and presents the mineralogical characterization of Vesta, revealing that this asteroid underwent a complex magmatic evolution that led to a differentiated crust and mantle. Expand
Vesta’s Shape and Morphology
TLDR
Dawn observations confirm the large impact basin at Vesta's south pole and reveal evidence for an earlier, underlying large basin (Veneneia), underscoring Vesta’s unique role as a transitional solar system body. Expand
The Geologically Recent Giant Impact Basins at Vesta’s South Pole
TLDR
Dawn’s global mapping of Vesta reveals that its observed south polar depression is composed of two overlapping giant impact features, which provide exceptional windows into impact processes at planetary scales, and spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system. Expand
Spectroscopic Characterization of Mineralogy and Its Diversity Across Vesta
TLDR
The mineralogy of Vesta, based on data obtained by the Dawn spacecraft’s visible and infrared spectrometer, is consistent with howardite-eucrite-diogenite meteorites, which suggests a complex magmatic evolution that led to a differentiated crust and mantle. Expand
Dawn completes its mission at 4 Vesta
The Dawn mission was designed to test our hypothesis about the origin and evolution of the early solar system by visiting the largest differentiated basaltic asteroid, 4 Vesta, believed to be a… Expand
An Ancient Core Dynamo in Asteroid Vesta
TLDR
It is shown that remanent magnetization in the eucrite meteorite Allan Hills A81001 formed during cooling on Vesta 3.69 billion years ago in a surface magnetic field of at least 2 microteslas, suggesting that Vesta formed an advecting liquid metallic core. Expand
Elemental Mapping by Dawn Reveals Exogenic H in Vesta’s Regolith
TLDR
Analysis of data from the Dawn spacecraft implies that asteroid Vesta is rich in volatiles, and models of Vesta’s evolution based on studies of howardite, eucrite, and diogenite meteorites are tested, finding that global Fe/O and Fe/Si ratios are consistent with HED compositions. Expand
Asteroid (4) Vesta II: Exploring a geologically and geochemically complex world with the Dawn Mission
Abstract More than 200 years after its discovery, asteroid (4) Vesta is thought to be the parent body for the howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) meteorites. The Dawn spacecraft spent ∼14 months… Expand
Small crater populations on Vesta
Abstract The NASA Dawn mission has extensively examined the surface of asteroid Vesta, the second most massive body in the main belt. The high quality of the gathered data provides us with a unique… Expand
The structure of the asteroid 4 Vesta as revealed by models of planet-scale collisions
TLDR
Three-dimensional simulations of Vesta’s global evolution under two overlapping planet-scale collisions closely reproduce its observed shape, and provide maps of impact excavation and ejecta deposition. Expand
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References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 25 REFERENCES
The Violent Collisional History of Asteroid 4 Vesta
TLDR
Dawn observations confirm that Vesta is a small differentiated planetary body with an inner core, and represents a surviving proto-planet from the earliest epoch of solar system formation, and presents the mineralogical characterization of Vesta, revealing that this asteroid underwent a complex magmatic evolution that led to a differentiated crust and mantle. Expand
Color and Albedo Heterogeneity of Vesta from Dawn
TLDR
Dawn's observations confirm that Vesta is a small differentiated planetary body with an inner core, and represents a surviving proto-planet from the earliest epoch of solar system formation, and reveal its color and photometric diversity are indicative of its status as a preserved, differentiated protoplanet. Expand
Vesta’s Shape and Morphology
TLDR
Dawn observations confirm the large impact basin at Vesta's south pole and reveal evidence for an earlier, underlying large basin (Veneneia), underscoring Vesta’s unique role as a transitional solar system body. Expand
The Geologically Recent Giant Impact Basins at Vesta’s South Pole
TLDR
Dawn’s global mapping of Vesta reveals that its observed south polar depression is composed of two overlapping giant impact features, which provide exceptional windows into impact processes at planetary scales, and spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system. Expand
Spectroscopic Characterization of Mineralogy and Its Diversity Across Vesta
TLDR
The mineralogy of Vesta, based on data obtained by the Dawn spacecraft’s visible and infrared spectrometer, is consistent with howardite-eucrite-diogenite meteorites, which suggests a complex magmatic evolution that led to a differentiated crust and mantle. Expand
Origin, Internal Structure and Evolution of 4 Vesta
Asteroid 4 Vesta is the only preserved intact example of a large, differentiated protoplanet like those believed to be the building blocks of terrestrial planet accretion. Vesta accreted rapidly from… Expand
Chips off of Asteroid 4 Vesta: Evidence for the Parent Body of Basaltic Achondrite Meteorites
TLDR
The sizes, ejection velocities of 500 meters per second, and proximity of these fragments to the 3:1 resonance establish Vesta as a dynamically viable source for eucrite, diogenite, and howardite meteorites. Expand
HED Meteorites and Their Relationship to the Geology of Vesta and the Dawn Mission
Howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) meteorites, thought to be derived from 4 Vesta, provide the best sampling available for any differentiated asteroid. However, deviations in oxygen isotopic… Expand
Vesta and Ceres: Crossing the History of the Solar System
The evolution of the Solar System can be schematically divided into three different phases: the Solar Nebula, the Primordial Solar System and the Modern Solar System. These three periods were… Expand
Vesta as the howardite, eucrite and diogenite parent body: Implications for the size of a core and for large‐scale differentiation
— If Vesta is the parent body of the howardite, eucrite, and diogenite (HED) meteorites, then geo-chemical and petrologic constraints for the meteorites may be used in conjunction with astronomical… Expand
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