TWO X-ray flashes from the Sun have lit up the asteroid Eros, giving
astronomers their first chance to see which chemical elements are present on an
asteroid’s surface. NASA’s NEAR spacecraft, which is spiralling towards Eros,
carries an X-ray spectrometer designed to see the X-ray “fingerprints”of the
elements.
The two flashes showed that the surface contains magnesium, aluminium,
silicon and iron. But it won’t be clear how abundant these elements are until
the spacecraft gets closer to the asteroid in mid-May. “This will yield
information on the origin and evolution of Eros,” says Jacob Trombka, leader of
the spectrometer science…
