Collisional timing of asteroids space weathering: A first approach

The space weathering, i.e. the evolution of surface properties over time, due to the exposure to external factors, has been shown to affect the optical properties of the asteroids, usually causing reddening (an effect which is measured in terms of the spectral slope in the visible and near infrared range) and darkening over time. However, some problems remain open. In particular, the timescale for reddening, which we estimate from laboratory experiments, is shorter—maybe, by two or even more orders of magnitude—than the typical asteroidal ages. Thus we should expect a complete saturation of the reddening effects for most of the objects, which does not happen, instead of a general significant dependence of the slope on the age, as indeed we find. In this paper we discuss, with the aid of a simplified model, how the collisions may affect the timing of the reddening process. We show that the collisions might halt the reddening, unless a significant reaccumulation of the fragments created in the cratering collisions takes place. In this case the timing for the complete reddening is driven by the collisional events, thus providing a rationale for the observed slope-age and slope-exposure relations.