A parent body in
meteoritics is the
celestial body
An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists within the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are of ...
from which originates a
meteorite
A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...
or a
class of meteorites.
Identification
It is easiest to correlate a meteorite with a parent body when the parent body still exists. This is the case for
Lunar and
Martian
Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. Trends in the planet's portrayal have largely been influenced by advances in planetary science. It became the most popular celes ...
meteorites. Samples from suspected Lunar meteorites can be compared with samples from the
Apollo program
The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...
. Martian meteorites can be compared to analysis carried out by
rovers (e.g.
Curiosity
Curiosity (from Latin , from "careful, diligent, curious", akin to "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking, such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident in humans and other animals. Curiosity helps Developmental psyc ...
).
Meteorites can also be compared to
spectral classes of asteroids. In order to identify the parent body of a class of meteorites, scientists compare their
albedo
Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...
and
spectra with other known bodies. These studies show that some meteorite classes are closely related to some asteroids. The
HED meteorites for example are correlated with
4 Vesta
Vesta (minor-planet designation: 4 Vesta) is one of the largest objects in the asteroid belt, with a mean diameter of . It was discovered by the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers on 29 March 1807 and is named after Vesta (mytho ...
.
[Gunter Faure, Teresa M. Mensing. ''Introduction to Planetary Science: The Geological Perspective'']
Page 175
Another, perhaps most useful way to classify meteorites by parent bodies is by grouping them according to composition, with types from each hypothetical parent body clustering on a graph.
[Burbine et al.]
"Meteoritic Parent Bodies: Their Number and Identification."
Accessed May 24, 2014 Meteoriticists have tentatively linked extant meteorites to 100-150 parent bodies, far fewer than the ~1 million main-belt asteroids larger than a kilometer. This apparent
sampling bias
In statistics, sampling bias is a bias (statistics), bias in which a sample is collected in such a way that some members of the intended statistical population, population have a lower or higher sampling probability than others. It results in a b ...
remains an area of active research.
[
]
See also
* Asteroid family
An asteroid family is a population of asteroids that share similar proper orbital elements, such as semimajor axis, eccentricity, and orbital inclination. The members of the families are thought to be fragments of past asteroid collisions. An ...
* Glossary of meteoritics
This is a glossary of terms used in meteoritics, the science of meteorites.
#
* 2 Pallas – an asteroid from the asteroid belt and one of the likely parent bodies of the CR meteorites.
* 4 Vesta – second-largest asteroid in the asteroid bel ...
References
{{Meteorites
Meteorite mineralogy and petrology
Asteroids
Meteorites