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Dawn at Vesta : Testing the Protoplanetary Paradigm. C. T. Russell et al., via Ben Tweed. Dawn. What is Vesta ?. Fourth discovered Third largest Second most massive Source of howardite-eucrite-diogenite meteorites and Vestoids At least 231-242 members of Vesta family
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Dawn at Vesta: Testing the Protoplanetary Paradigm C. T. Russell et al., via Ben Tweed
What is Vesta? • Fourth discovered • Third largest • Second most massive • Source of howardite-eucrite-diogenite meteorites and Vestoids • At least 231-242 members of Vesta family • Different surface (dry, resurfaced) than Ceres (water-bearing minerals, weak atmosphere?) • Protoplanet?
Is Vesta a protoplanet? • Dawn’s J2 measurement: 0.03178 • Predicted J2 for homogenous body: 0.0350 • => Yes.
References: • C. T. Russell et al., Science 336, 684 (2012) • S. Marchiet al., Science336, 690 (2012) • V. Zappalàet al., Icarus116, 291 (1995)