Interested In A Blind Date, Rosetta? We Know This Asteroid Named Lutetia...

Lutetia is a large, primitive asteroid left on the shelf for billions of years, presumably because no planet consumed it as the Solar System formed.  Most measurements affirm this, making the asteroid out to be a 'C-type', which contains primitive compounds of carbon, but some others suggest that Lutetia is an 'M-type', which could mean there are metals in its surface.  If the second is true, it could be a real find in space science because although metallic asteroids do exist, they are thought to be fragments of the metallic core of larger asteroids that have since been shattered into pieces. If Lutetia is made of metal or even contains large amounts of metal, the traditional asteroid classification scheme may need rethinking.  read more

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