Home | Site Map | What's New | Image Index | Copyright | Posters | ScienceViews | Science Fiction Timelines |

PHOTO INDEX OF
PRIMARY TARGETS
ASTEROIDS
COMETS
EARTH
JUPITER
KUIPER BELT
MARS
MERCURY
METEORITES
NEPTUNE
OORT CLOUD
PLUTO
SATURN
SOLAR SYSTEM
SPACE
SUN
URANUS
VENUS
ORDER PRINTS

OTHER PHOTO INDEXES
ALL TARGETS
PHOTO CATEGORIES

SCIENCEVIEWS
AMERICAN INDIAN
AMPHIBIANS
BIRDS
BUGS
FINE ART
FOSSILS
THE ISLANDS
HISTORICAL PHOTOS
MAMMALS
OTHER
PARKS
PLANTS
RELIGIOUS
REPTILES
SCIENCEVIEWS PRINTS

Howardites - Rocks from Vesta?

Target Name:  Asteroid Vesta, Achondrite Meteorite
Produced by:  NASA/JPL-Caltech/Hap McSween (University of Tennessee), and Andrew Beck and Tim McCoy (Smithsonian Institution)
Copyright: NASA Copyright Free Policy
Cross Reference:  PIA15137
Date Released: 2012-01-12

Related Documents
Download Options

NameTypeWidth x HeightSize
PIA15137.jpgJPEG1800 x 1333289K
PIA15137.tifTIFF1800 x 13334M

The HED (howardite, eucrite and diogenite) meteorites are a large group of meteorites believed to originate from Vesta, a hypothesis that is consistent with current Dawn observations. Howardites are regolith breccia rocks, meaning that they formed through the grinding and fusion of rock and dust that occurs during meteor impacts on the surface of Vesta. Howardites are comprised of fragments of eucrite and diogenite of varying grain sizes, which can be seen in this picture of the Bununu howardite. This sample weighs 217 grams and was recovered in 1942 in Africa. Along with fragments of eucrite and diogenite, some howardites also contain solar wind implanted noble gasses, which confirms that they once resided on the surface of their parent body. This makes howardites a good laboratory analog for spectral and chemical measurements that will be made of the Vestan surface by Dawn.

Copyright © 1995-2016 by Calvin J. Hamilton. All rights reserved.