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Planetary science

Of asteroids and onions

Nature volume 422, pages 479–481 (2003)Cite this article

A refined analysis of a group of meteorites has resolved controversy over the likely structure of their parent asteroid. A layered structure is revealed, rather like an onion, whose outer regions cooled fastest.

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Figure 1: The onion-shell model of an asteroid interior.

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  1. the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    John A. Wood

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  1. John A. Wood
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Correspondence to John A. Wood.

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Wood, J. Of asteroids and onions. Nature 422, 479–481 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/422479a

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