Spectroscopy and Mineralogy of Aguas Zarcas
D. Takir, K. T. Howard, K. R. Stockstill-Cahill, C. A. Hibbitts, N. Abreu, M. E. Zolensky, M. Fries
51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2020), Abstract #2533
Aguas Zarcas is a new meteorite that fell in Aguas Zarcas district, San Carlos, Alajulea, Costa Rica on 23 April 2019 at 21:07 local time [1]. The fireball broke up into hundreds of pieces in the atmosphere and fell to the SW with an entry angle of 73o relative to the ground [1] (Fig. 1). The preliminary elements of the bolide were determined to be: semi-major axis 2.7 AU, eccentricity 0.63, inclination 3.09°, pericenter longitude of 185.3° and ascending node 33.4° [1] (Fig. 2). The Aguas Zarcas sample used in this study was donated to NASA JSC’s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science by Robert Ward. Here, we present spectroscopic and mineralogical analyses of Aguas Zarcas. Tying spectroscopic to mineralogical analyses in carbonaceous chondrites, like Aguas Zarcas, allows us to develop robust quantitative indicators useful for in-terpreting spectra of primitive asteroids, from ground- and space-based observations, and therefore constraining the environments and conditions in which these asteroids formed and evolved (e.g., [ 2, 3]).
