Seismic resurfacing of asteroid (433) Eros from cratering impact suggests presence of asteroid families in near-Earth space

Date

2022-10-06

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Abstract

An asteroid’s interior contributes to the response of its surface and shape to forces from space, 16 including meteoroid impacts [e.g., Chapman 1996, Bottke et al. 2020], tidal effects [e.g., Hurford 17 et al. 2016, Binzel et al. 2010], and solar radiation [Walsh et al. 2008]. Changes to asteroid surfaces 18 from these external forces provide a record of the collisional and dynamical evolution of the inner 19 Solar System [Bottke et al. 2020]. However, asteroid interiors remain poorly understood [Asphaug 20 2020]. 21 22 (433) Eros is a 34 km x 11 km x 11 km diameter elongated near-Earth asteroid (NEA) with surface 23 expressions that suggest a heavily fractured yet coherent interior, as evidenced by craters formed 24 with structural control [Prockter et al. 2002] and by surface lineaments [Buczkowski et al. 2008], 25 which are common features on 10-km-scale asteroids observed by spacecraft [Veverka et al. 1994, 26 Barucci et al. 2015] that may be surface expressions of widespread interior fractures.