The Asteroid-Comet Continuum: In Search of Lost Primitivity

Research Article| February 01, 2011 The Asteroid–Comet Continuum: In Search of Lost Primitivity Matthieu Gounelle Matthieu Gounelle *Laboratoire de Minéralogie et de Cosmochimie du Muséum UMR7202, CNRS-MNHN, CP 52, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France E-mail: gounelle@mnhn.fr Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Matthieu Gounelle *Laboratoire de Minéralogie et de Cosmochimie du Muséum UMR7202, CNRS-MNHN, CP 52, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France E-mail: gounelle@mnhn.fr Publisher: Mineralogical Society of America First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1811-5217 Print ISSN: 1811-5209 © 2011 by the Mineralogical Society of America Elements (2011) 7 (1): 29–34. https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.7.1.29 Article history First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Matthieu Gounelle; The Asteroid–Comet Continuum: In Search of Lost Primitivity. Elements 2011;; 7 (1): 29–34. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.7.1.29 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyElements Search Advanced Search Abstract Recent results from the Stardust comet sample-return mission have confirmed the idea that there is a continuum between primitive small bodies in the outer main asteroid belt and comets. Indeed, the mineralogy as well as the chemical and oxygen isotope compositions of the dust from comet Wild 2 are very similar to those of carbonaceous chondrites, a class of meteorites allegedly derived from primitive, dark asteroids. Comets no longer represent extremely primitive samples of the early Solar System that are radically different from dark asteroids. We enter a new era in which comets and their siblings, the dark asteroids, are seen as a collection of individual objects whose geology can be studied. The most primitive of these objects, i.e. the ones that escaped thermal metamorphism or hydrothermal alteration, can help us decipher physicochemical processes in the interstellar medium and in the protoplanetary disk from which our Solar System formed. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.