Space weathering

With space - erosion ( engl. Space Weathering ) refers to the surface erosion atmosphere loose body in space. It is caused by the impact of meteorites and micrometeorites, and the action of galactic and solar cosmic rays, the solar wind and of photons (especially in the UV range ). Characterized as sub-microscopic iron particles are generated on the lunar surface. Also, optical properties of surfaces, with time, what changed, for example the determination of the mineralogical composition of celestial bodies (such as asteroids ) may make it difficult.

As early as 1973 predicted the American Bruce Hapke that the space - erosion produced minerals that are not or only rarely caused by other processes. This assumption was confirmed in early 2004 in the moon meteorite Dhofar 280 with evidence of three iron-silicon mineral phases. The phase Fe2Si was referred here by Hapke as Hapkeit.