The UV/blue effects of space weathering manifested in S-complex asteroids II: Probing for less-weathered objects in the Solar System

• Spectral slope across 360–440 nm delineates UV/blue space weathering evidence.
• O-class asteroids likely show space weathering in the UV/blue but not in the VNIR.
• 54 main-belt asteroids potentially show evidence of the onset of space weathering.

High resolution spectrophotometry shows that among S-complex and related asteroids that have undergone varying levels of weathering from space exposure, the break in reflectance spectrophotometry between weathered and fresh surfaces persists across the 360–440 nm spectral range. Using this knowledge, candidate Q- and O-class asteroids that could show the onset of space weathering in the ultraviolet/blue spectral region, not yet seen in the visible/near-infrared spectral region, were culled from the taxonomic classification of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey asteroid data base. Fifty-four main-belt asteroids are identified for further examination, although we believe that greater spectral resolution is necessary to confirm this designation.