Reflectance spectroscopy and asteroid surface mineralogy

Asteroid surface mineralogy is a function of the initial composition of the parent planetesimal modified to a greater or lesser extent by endogenic and exogenic processes. Detailed mineralogical characterizations of asteroidal objects permit their evolutionary history to be, at least partially, deciphered. Analysis of visible and near-infrared spectral reflectances and spectral albedos provide our primary means of characterizing the surface mineralogy and petrology of asteroidal bodies. This chapter provides an overview of the current asteroid spectral interpretative procedures and of our present understanding of the nature and history of these minor planets. -from Authors