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Solar system

Cracking up on asteroids

Nature volume 508, pages 190–191 (2014) Cite this article

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A combination of laboratory experiments and modelling shows that diurnal temperature variations are the main cause of rock breakdown and the ensuing formation of powdery rubble on the surface of small asteroids. See Letter p.233

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Figure 1: Asteroid Ida.
The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

NASA/JPL

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  1. Heather A. Viles is in the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK.,

    Heather A. Viles

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  1. Heather A. Viles
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Correspondence to Heather A. Viles.

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Viles, H. Cracking up on asteroids. Nature 508, 190–191 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13222

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