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No exotic matter in asteroids

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Solar System bodies have similar abundances of non-volatile elements. Asteroids are categorized as unmelted chondritic bodies or as differentiated bodies formed by extensive to global melting of chondritic progenitors. Reflectance spectra show asteroids are compositionally similar to meteorites (which are composed of non-exotic materials—mainly silicates, metallic Fe–Ni, sulfides, oxides, and organic matter). Dense refractory siderophile elements (e.g., Re, Os, Ir, Pt) are present in iron meteorites in total concentrations < 0.05 wt%. The upper limit on the density of an asteroid is ~ 8 g cm −3 for a zero-porosity core fragment composed of ~ 90 wt% Fe and ~ 10 wt% Ni. Carry (Planet Space Sci 73:98–118, 2012) compiled asteroid densities and included some anomalous values (caused by uncertainties in measurement) that he characterized as unrealistic and non-physical. One such value for asteroid (33) Polyhymnia (75.3 ± 9.7 g cm −3 ) was accepted by LaForge et al. (Eur Phys J Plus 138: 812, 2023) who characterized Polyhymnia as a compact ultradense object (CUDO) perhaps composed of stable superheavy elements (SHEs) or alpha matter (alpha particles in a Bose–Einstein condensate). Kiren et al. (Eur Phys J Plus 139: 547, 2024) proposed Polyhymnia could consist of degenerate dark matter. It is exceedingly unlikely that Polyhymnia or other asteroids contain exotic matter: (1) The listed bulk density of Polyhymnia is characterized as “unrealistic.” (2) Meteorites (~ 98.5% are from asteroids) are composed of non-exotic materials. (3) The spectra of “CUDO” asteroids do not differ from other asteroids of their taxonomic class. (4) SHEs and degenerate dark matter have not yet been shown to exist. (5) Alpha matter may occur naturally only in extreme astrophysical environments.
DOI: 10.1140/epjp/s13360-026-07415-z
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,890
Award: WE PROPOSE TO CONDUCT A SERIES OF INVESTIGATIONS OF THE MINERALOGIC COMPONENTS OF CHONDRITIC METEORITES THAT ARE THOUGHT TO HAVE FORMED ON PLANETESIMALS WITH THE GOAL OF DEVELOPING IMPROVED CHRONOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS ON THEIR FORMATION AND ON THE OVERALL AQUEOUS EVOLUTION ON ASTEROIDS. OUR ANALYSES ARE DIRECTED TOWARD DEVELOPING A BETTER UNDERSTAND OF THE SEQUENCE AND TIMING OF MAJOR EVENTSIN PLANETARY ACCRETION AND DIFFERENTIATION WHICH IS DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO THE GOALS OF THE EMERGING WORLDS SOLICITATION TO UNDERSTAND THE FORMATION AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND THE STRATEGIC QUESTION OF LEARNING HOW DID THE SUNS FAMILY OF PLANETS SATELLITES AND MINOR BODIES FORM AND EVOLVE?WE WILL UTILIZE CHRONOLOGICAL TOOLS THAT WE AND OTHERS HAVE PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED IN A COORDINATED APPROACH UTILIZING PETROGRAPHY CHEMISTRY AND IN SITU ISOTOPIC ANALYSES. TIMESCALES OF EARLY GEOLOGIC ACTIVITY ON ASTEROIDAL PARENT BODIES OF METEORITES WILL BE ADDRESSED BY COUPLED ANALYSES OF THE MN-CR O-ISOTOPE AND C-ISOTOPE SYSTEMS IN CARBONATES AND OTHER SECONDARY MINERALS OF CARBONACEOUS CHONDRITES. PREVIOUS DATA SHOW THAT DIFFERENT CARBONATE MINERALOGIES IN CI CHONDRITES HAVE DISTINCT OXYGEN AND CARBON ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS SUGGESTING AN EVOLUTION OF FLUID COMPOSITIONS ON THE CI PARENT BODY. WE HAVE DEVELOPED A METHOD TO IMPROVE THE ACCURACY OF MN-CR DATING OF CARBONATES AND WE PROPOSE TO USE THE NEWEST GENERATION ION MICROPROBE AT UCLA TO DELINEATE THE FULL RANGE AND TIMING OF FLUID EVOLUTION ON THE PARENT ASTEROIDS OF CI AND OTHER SELECT CARBONACEOUS CHONDRITES. WE ALSO PROPOSE TO FOLLOW UP INTRIGUING HINTS OF 60FE ACTIVITY IN EARLY-FORMED CARBONATES VIA SIMS ANALYSES AND RESONANT IONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETRY (RIMS) ANALYSES WITH OUR COLLABORATOR ANDY DAVIS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. AL-MG AND FE-NI SYSTEMATICS WILL BE MEASURED IN SELECT CHONDRULES FROM UNEQUILIBRATED CHONDRITES BY BOTH SIMS AND RIMS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE ABUNDANCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF 60FE IN THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM.A PLANETARY MAJOR EQUIPMENT REQUEST IS MADE FOR PURCHASE OF A MULTI-SAMPLE INTRODUCTION SYSTEM FOR OUR NEW CAMECA IMS 1290 ION MICROPROBE. THE IMS 1290 IS THE PRIMARY INSTRUMENT FOR THE RESEARCH PROPOSED HERE AND IT SERVES OTHER FUNDED AND PROPOSED NASA PROJECTS AS WELL PROJECTS BROUGHT TO THE NSF NATIONAL ION MICROPROBE FACILITY. THE INSTRUMENT WAS PURCHASED WITH SUBSTANTIAL ($4M) SUPPORT FROM THE NSF MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION PROGRAM NEVERTHELESS WE COULD ONLY AFFORD TO OUTFIT WITH THE MOST BASIC SINGLE-SAMPLE INTRODUCTION SYSTEM. THE NEW SYSTEM WILL ALLOW THE STORAGE OF UP TO SIX SAMPLES IN THE VACUUM ANTECHAMBER ADJACENTTO THE ANALYSIS CHAMBER. THIS WILL ENABLE IMPROVEMENTS IN BACKGROUND LEVELS OF VOLATILE ELEMENTS AND WILL THEREFORE LEAD TO HIGHER RELIABILITY AND HIGHER EFFICIENCY OF ANALYSES INCLUDING THE OXYGEN AND CARBON ISOTOPE MEASUREMENTS PROPOSED HERE.
OpenAlex ID: W7129551620
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