▪ Abstract The detailed morphology of impact craters is now believed to be mainly caused by
the collapse of a geometrically simple, bowl-shaped “transient crater.” The transient crater …

Abstract The Framing Camera (FC) is the German contribution to the Dawn mission. The
camera will map 4 Vesta and 1 Ceres through a clear filter and 7 band-pass filters covering …

Context. Until recently, the 3D shape, and therefore density (when combining the volume
estimate with available mass estimates), and surface topography of the vast majority of the …

Advancing technology in near-infrared instrumentation and dedicated planetary telescope
facilities have enabled nearly two decades of reconnoitering the spectral properties for near …

How big were the first planetesimals? We attempt to answer this question by conducting
coagulation simulations in which the planetesimals grow by mutual collisions and form …

Planet formation models suggest the primordial main belt experienced a short but intense
period of collisional evolution shortly after the formation of planetary embryos. This period is …

New data from observations of asteroid mutual perturbation events, observations of asteroid
satellites, and spacecraft encounters have revolutionized our understanding of asteroid bulk …

The main belt is believed to have originally contained an Earth mass or more of material,
enough to allow the asteroids to accrete on relatively short timescales. The present-day …

The Dawn mission has provided new evidence strengthening the identification of asteroid
Vesta as the parent body of the howardite, eucrite, and diogenite (HED) meteorites. The …

Vesta's surface is characterized by abundant impact craters, some with preserved ejecta
blankets, large troughs extending around the equatorial region, enigmatic dark material, and …