[FPSPACE] Fear and Loathing on the Launch Pad

[Jens Kieffer-Olsen]

-----Original Message-----
From: E.P. Grondine [mailto:epgrondine at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, May 2, 2009 07:46 PM
 
> > Arguing as you are, Ed, that 298 Baptistina with
> > a near-circular orbit is a "captured dead comet"
> > comes across, frankly speaking, like a load of bull!
>
> I have no idea how Baptistina got there, nor can 
> I come up with an exact explanation for how it did. 

 The point is that in 2008 Bill Bottke, V. Reddy et al.
 found that 298 Baptistina is NOT after all sharing the
 same chemical signature as the source of the K-T impact.

 From
 http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/acm2008/pdf/8243.pdf :

 Based on the mineralogy and supported by the albedo
 information it is evident that 298 Baptistina is not a
 CM2 assemblage. This would appear, at first glance, to
 weaken the link between the Baptistina family and the
 K-T impactor. On the other hand, it may also hint at
 some intriguing possibilities. For example, if the
 Baptistina family is indeed C/X-complex and assuming
 (298) Baptistina is not an interloper, it could mean
 that(298) Baptistina is (i) a remnant core of the
 original parent body or (ii) a remnant of the impactor
 that destroyed the parent body. Spectral analysis of other
 BAF members is currently underway to probe this mystery.

--
Jens Kieffer-Olsen
Slagelse, Denmark