Max Mahkle - The Rocky, the Icy, and the Unknown: Constraining the History of the Solar System through its Minor Planets

Title: The Rocky, the Icy, and the Unknown: Constraining the History of the Solar
System through its Minor Planets

Abstract: The minor planets of the Solar System are invaluable relics from its early
history, preserving a record of the processes that shaped its formation and
evolution. These objects display a wide range of compositions, from rocky and
metallic to icy and carbonaceous, providing crucial insights into the diverse
environments that existed within the Solar System's protoplanetary disk. In
this talk, I will summarize our current understanding of the compositional
diversity among asteroids in the inner Solar System, derived from
remote-sensing observations, the meteorite record, and sample-return missions.
I will connect this understanding to the processes at play in the early Solar
System and highlight key open questions regarding the formation of the (minor)
planets - many of which we may soon address. An upcoming surge of observations
from ground-based and space telescopes is set to reveal the minor planets in
both the inner and outer Solar System in a new light, continuing what has been
termed the "golden age of asteroid research".