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Science 20 June 2003:
Vol. 300. no. 5627, pp. 1939 - 1942
DOI: 10.1126/science.1085844
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Reports

A Low-Density M-type Asteroid in the Main Belt

J. L. Margot* and M. E. Brown

The orbital parameters of a satellite revolving around 22 Kalliope indicate that the bulk density of this main-belt asteroid is 2.37 ± 0.4 grams per cubic centimeter. M-type asteroids such as Kalliope are thought to be the disrupted metallic cores of differentiated bodies. The lowdensity indicates that Kalliope cannot be predominantly composed of metal and may be composed of chondritic material with ~30% porosity. The satellite orbit is circular, suggesting that Kalliope and its satellite have different internal structures and tidal dissipation rates. The satellite may be an aggregate of impact ejecta from an earlier collision with Kalliope.

Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: margot{at}gps.caltech.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Oxygen and Asteroids.
T. H. Burbine, A. S. Rivkin, S. K. Noble, T. Mothe-Diniz, W. F. Bottke, T. J. McCoy, M. D. Dyar, and C. A. Thomas (2008)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 68, 273-343
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)