We have obtained near-infrared spectra of the four brightest known Centaurs and of Ðve irregular satellites of giant planets. Many of these objects show 1.5 and 2.0 km absorption bands indicative of water ice, including 1997 Pholus, Phoebe (S9), and Nereid (N2). The satellites of JupiterÈElara, 26 Himalia, and Pasaphae (J6, J7, J8)Èappear spectrally featureless, consistent with asteroidal origi...

We propose two algorithms to provide a full preliminary orbit of an Earthorbiting object with a number of observations lower than the classical methods, such as those by Laplace and Gauss. The first one is the Virtual debris algorithm, based upon the admissible region, that is the set of the unknown quantities corresponding to possible orbits for objects in Earth orbit (as opposed to both inter...

Carbonaceous chondrites contain both soluble and insoluble organic materials (SOM IOM) which may have been produced in different environments via processes or share possible genetic relationships. The SOM from IOM during hydrothermal episodes on asteroids, vice versa. potential role played by the mineral matrix these (clay minerals of variable crystallinity) remains to be constrained. Here, we ...

The carbonaceous chondrite meteorites are fragments of asteroids that have remained relatively unprocessed since the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. These carbon-rich objects contain a variety of extraterrestrial organic molecules that constitute a record of chemical evolution prior to the origin of life. Compound classes include aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbon...

Introduction: Micrometeorites (MMs) are large (>25 µm) interplanetary dust particles that survive atmospheric entry to be recovered from the Earth's surface. Amongst those particles that escaped significant heating during atmospheric entry two groups have been identified [1]: (i) fine-grained MMs (fgMMs), which are similar to the fine-grained matrices of hy-drated carbonaceous chondrites (CCs),...