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Science 7 June 1991:
Vol. 252. no. 5011, pp. 1399 - 1404
DOI: 10.1126/science.252.5011.1399
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Articles

Asteroid 1986 DA: Radar Evidence for a Metallic Composition

S. J. OSTRO 1, D. B. CAMPBELL 2, J. F. CHANDLER 3, A. A. HINE 4, R. S. HUDSON 5, K. D. ROSEMA 1, and I. I. SHAPIRO 3

1 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109
2 National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
3 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138
4 National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Box 995, Arecibo, PR 00613
5 Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164

Echoes from the near-Earth object 1986 DA show it to be significantly more reflective than other radar-detected asteroids. This result supports the hypothesis that 1986 DA is a piece of NiFe metal derived from the interior of a much larger object that melted, differentiated, cooled, and subsequently was disrupted in a catastrophic collision. This 2-kilometer asteroid, which appears smooth at centimeter to meter scales but extremely irregular at 10- to 100-meter scales, might be (or have been a part of the parent body of some iron meteorites.

Submitted on March 14, 1991
Accepted on April 26, 1991


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