Ejecta from impacts at 0.2-2.3 m/s in low gravity     

Joshua E. Colwell  Stein Sture  Dan Durda  Tyler Goudie  Daniel J. Ashcom  Thomas Keohane  Michael Lupton 《Icarus》2008,195(2):908-917

Collisions between planetary ring particles and in some protoplanetary disk environments occur at speeds below 10 m/s. The particles involved in these low-velocity collisions have negligible gravity and may be made of or coated with smaller dust grains and aggregates. We undertook microgravity impact experiments to better understand the dissipation of energy and production of ejecta in these collisions. Here we report the results of impact experiments of solid projectiles into beds of granular material at impact velocities from 0.2 to 2.3 m/s performed under near-weightless conditions on the NASA KC-135 Weightless Wonder V. Impactors of various densities and radii of 1 and 2 cm were launched into targets of quartz sand, JSC-1 lunar regolith simulant, and JSC-Mars-1 martian regolith simulant. Most impacts were at normal or near-normal incidence angles, though some impacts were at oblique angles. Oblique impacts led to much higher ejection velocities and ejecta masses than normal impacts. For normal incidence impacts, characteristic ejecta velocities increase with impactor kinetic energy, KE, as approximately KE^0.5. Ejecta masses could not be measured accurately due to the nature of the experiment, but qualitatively also increased with impactor kinetic energy. Some experiments were near the threshold velocity of 0.2 m/s identified in previous microgravity impact experiments as the minimum velocity needed to produce ejecta [Colwell, J.E., 2003. Icarus 164, 188-196], and the experimental scatter is large at these low speeds in the airplane experiment. A more precise exploration of the transition from low-ejecta-mass impacts to high-ejecta-mass impacts requires a longer and smoother period of reduced gravity. Coefficient of restitution measurements are not possible due to the varying acceleration of the airplane throughout the experiment.  相似文献   

Measurement of Impact Ejecta from Regolith Targets in Oblique Impacts     

S. Yamamoto 《Icarus》2002,158(1):87-97

This paper reports the results of experiments on projectile impact into regolith targets at various impact angles. Copper projectiles of 240 mg are accelerated to 197 to 272 m s⁻¹ using an electromagnetic gun. The ejecta are detected by thin Al foil targets as secondary targets, and the resulting holes on the foil are measured to derive the spatial distribution of the ejecta. The ejecta that penetrated the foil are concentrated toward the downrange azimuths of impacting projectiles in oblique impacts. In order to investigate the ejecta velocity distribution, the nondimensional volume of ejecta with velocities higher than a given value is calculated from the spatial distribution. In the case of the vertical impact of the projectile, most ejecta have velocities lower than 24% of the projectile speed (∼50 m s⁻¹), and there are only several ejecta with velocities higher than 72 m s⁻¹. This result confirms the existence of an upper limit to the ejection velocity in the ejecta velocity distribution (Hartmann cutoff velocity) (W. K. Hartmann, 1985, Icarus63, 69-98). On the other hand, it is found that, in the oblique impacts, there are a large number of ejecta with velocities higher than the Hartmann cutoff velocity. The relative quantity of ejecta above the Hartmann cutoff velocity increases as the projectile impact angle decreases. Taking these results with the results of S. Yamamoto and A. M. Nakamura (1997, Icarus128, 160-170) from impact experiments using an impact angle of 30°, it can be concluded that the ejecta from these regolith targets exhibit a bimodal velocity distribution. Below a few tens of m s⁻¹, we see the expected velocity distribution of ejecta, but above this velocity we see a separate group of high-velocity ejecta.  相似文献   

Growth of planetesimals by impacts at ∼25 m/s     

Gerhard Wurm  Georgi Paraskov  Oliver Krauss 《Icarus》2005,178(1):253-263

We study central collisions between millimeter-sized dust projectiles and centimeter-sized dust targets in impact experiments. Target and projectile are dust aggregates consisting of micrometer-sized SiO₂ particles. Collision velocities range up to 25 m/s. The general outcome of a collision strongly depends on the impact velocity. For collisions below 13 m/s rebound and a small degree of fragmentation occur. However, at higher collision velocities up to 25 m/s approximately 50% of the mass of the projectile rigidly sticks to the target after the collision. Thus, net growth of a body is possible in high speed collisions. This supports the idea that planetesimal formation via collisional growth is a viable mechanism at higher impact velocities. Within our set of parameters the experiments even suggest that higher impact velocities might be preferable for growth in collisions between dusty bodies. For the highest impact velocities most of the ejecta is within small dust aggregates about 500 μm in size. In detail the size distribution of ejected dust aggregates is flat for very small particles smaller than 500 μm and follows a power law for larger ejected dust aggregates with a power of −5.6±0.2. There is a sharp upper cut-off at about 1 mm in size with only a few particles being slightly larger. The ejection angle is smaller than 3° with respect to the target surface. These fast ejecta move with 40±10% of the impact velocity.  相似文献   

Impacts into weak dust targets under microgravity and the formation of planetesimals     

Georgi B. Paraskov  Oliver Krauss 《Icarus》2007,191(2):779-789

We carried out 16 collision experiments in the drop tower in Bremen, Germany. Dust projectiles and solid projectiles of several mm in size impacted a dust target 5 cm in depth and width at velocities between 3.5 and 21.5 m/s. For solid impactors we found significant mass loss on the front (impact) side of the target. Mass loss depended on the impact velocity and projectile type (solid sphere or dust) and was up to 35 times the projectile mass for targets of the lowest tensile strength. Typical fragment velocities on the front side of the target ranged from 3 to 12 cm/s. The ejecta velocity was independent of the impact velocity but it increased with projectile mass. On the back side of the target (opposite to the impact side) mass was ejected from the target above a certain threshold impact velocity. Ejection velocity on the back side increased with impact velocity and is larger for solid projectiles than for dust projectiles. In one case a slightly stronger target gained mass in a slow dust-dust collision. We verified that collisions of dust projectiles with compact, very strong dust targets lead to a more massive target accreting part of the projectile. Applied to planetesimal formation, the experiments suggest that the maximum possible ejecta velocity from a body of several cm in size after a collision is small. Ejecta were slow enough that they were reaccreted by means of gas flow if large pores were part of the body's morphology. While very weak bodies cannot grow in the primary collision at the given velocities, this can lead to growth by secondary collisions. Slight compression, which could result from preceding collisions, might lead to immediate growth of a body in slow collisions by adding projectile mass.  相似文献   

N-Body Simulations of Planetesimal Evolution: Effect of Varying Impactor Mass Ratio     

Zoë M. LeinhardtDerek C. Richardson 《Icarus》2002,159(2):306-313

We present results from direct N-body simulations of collisions between gravitational aggregates of varying size as part of a study to parameterize planetesimal growth in the Solar System. We find that as the ratio of projectile to target mass departs from unity, the impact angle has less effect on the outcome. At the same time, the probability of planetesimal growth increases. Conversely, for a fixed impact energy, collisions between impactors with mass ratio near unity are more dispersive than those with impactor mass ratio far from unity. We derive an expression for the accretion probability as a function of mass ratio. For an average mass ratio of 1:5, we find an accretion probability of ∼60% over all impact parameters. We also compute the critical specific dispersal energy Q*_D as a function of projectile size. Extrapolating to a projectile size of 1 m with a 1-km target, we find Q*_D=10³−10⁴ J kg⁻¹, in agreement with several other collision models that use fundamentally different techniques. Our model assumes that the components of each gravitational aggregate are identical and indestructible over the range of sampled impact speeds. In future work we hope to incorporate a simple fracture model to extend the range of applicable speeds and we plan to implement our results in a large-scale planetesimal evolution code.  相似文献   

On the collisional disruption of porous icy targets simulating Kuiper belt objects     

Ian Giblin  Donald R. Davis 《Icarus》2004,171(2):487-505

We present results from 27 impact experiments using porous (porosity ranging from 0.39 to 0.54) ice targets and solid ice projectiles at impact speeds ranging from 90 to 155 m/s. These targets were designed to simulate Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) in structure. We measured a specific energy for shattering, , of 2.1×¹⁰⁵ erg/g for those snowball targets hit by intact ice projectiles; this is of the same order as that measured for solid ice targets. The fragment mass distribution follows a power law, although the exponent is not simply related to the largest fragment size as assumed by fragmentation models. We provide the first measurement of the three-dimensional mass-velocity distribution for disrupted ice targets and find that fragment speeds range from ∼2 to ∼20 m/s. The fraction of collisional kinetic energy that is partitioned into ejecta speeds is between 1 and 15% (although it should be noted that the lower limit is more reliable than the upper).  相似文献   

Velocity distributions of high-velocity ejecta from regolith targets     

Satoru Yamamoto  Toshihiko Kadono  Takafumi Matsui 《Icarus》2005,178(1):264-273

We measured the velocity distributions of impact ejecta with velocities higher than ∼100 m s⁻¹ (high-velocity ejecta) for impacts at variable impact angle α into unconsolidated targets of small soda-lime glass spheres. Polycarbonate projectiles with mass of 0.49 g were accelerated to ∼250 m s⁻¹ by a single-stage light-gas gun. The impact ejecta are detected by thin aluminum foils placed around the targets. We analyzed the holes on the aluminum foils to derive the total number and volume of ejecta that penetrated the aluminum foils. Using the minimum velocity of the ejecta for penetration, determined experimentally, the velocity distributions of the high-velocity ejecta were obtained at α=15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°. The velocity distribution of the high-velocity ejecta is shown to depend on impact angle. The quantity of the high-velocity ejecta for vertical impact (α=90°) is considerably lower than derived from a power-law relation for the velocity distribution on the low-velocity ejecta (less than 10 m s⁻¹). On the other hand, in oblique impacts, the quantity of the high-velocity ejecta increases with decreasing impact angle, and becomes comparable to those derived from the power-law relation. We attempt to scale the high-velocity ejecta for oblique impacts to a new scaling law, in which the velocity distribution is scaled by the cube of projectile radius (scaled volume) and a horizontal component of impactor velocity (scaled ejection velocity), respectively. The high-velocity ejecta data shows a good correlation between the scaled volume and the scaled ejection velocity.  相似文献   

Measurement of Ejecta from Normal Incident Hypervelocity Impact on Lunar Regolith Simulant     

David L. Edwards  William Cooke  Danielle E. Moser  Wesley Swift 《Earth, Moon, and Planets》2008,102(1-4):549-553

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) continues to make progress toward long-term lunar habitation. Critical to the design of a lunar habitat is an understanding of the lunar surface environment. A subject for further definition is the lunar impact ejecta environment. The document NASA SP-8013 was developed for the Apollo program and is the latest definition of the ejecta environment. There is concern that NASA SP-8013 may over-estimate the lunar ejecta environment. NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) has initiated several tasks to improve the accuracy of our understanding of the lunar surface ejecta environment. This paper reports the results of experiments on projectile impact into powered pumice targets, simulating unconsolidated lunar regolith. The Ames Vertical Gun Range (AVGR) was used to accelerate spherical Pyrex projectiles of 0.29g to velocities ranging between 2.5 and 5.18 km/s. Impact on the pumice target occurred at normal incidence. The ejected particles were detected by thin aluminum foil targets placed around the pumice target in a 0.5 Torr vacuum. A simplistic technique to characterize the ejected particles was formulated. Improvements to this technique will be discussed for implementation in future tests.  相似文献   

Effect of target properties and impact velocity on ejection dynamics and ejecta deposition     

Robert Luther  Meng-Hua Zhu  Gareth Collins  Kai Wünnemann 《Meteoritics & planetary science》2018,53(8):1705-1732

Impact craters are formed by the displacement and ejection of target material. Ejection angles and speeds during the excavation process depend on specific target properties. In order to quantify the influence of the constitutive properties of the target and impact velocity on ejection trajectories, we present the results of a systematic numerical parameter study. We have carried out a suite of numerical simulations of impact scenarios with different coefficients of friction (0.0–1.0), porosities (0–42%), and cohesions (0–150 MPa). Furthermore, simulations with varying pairs of impact velocity (1–20 km s⁻¹) and projectile mass yielding craters of approximately equal volume are examined. We record ejection speed, ejection angle, and the mass of ejected material to determine parameters in scaling relationships, and to calculate the thickness of deposited ejecta by assuming analytical parabolic trajectories under Earth gravity. For the resulting deposits, we parameterize the thickness as a function of radial distance by a power law. We find that strength—that is, the coefficient of friction and target cohesion—has the strongest effect on the distribution of ejecta. In contrast, ejecta thickness as a function of distance is very similar for different target porosities and for varying impact velocities larger than ~6 km s⁻¹. We compare the derived ejecta deposits with observations from natural craters and experiments.  相似文献   

Exchange of ejecta between Telesto and Calypso: Tadpoles, horseshoes, and passing orbits     

Anthony R. Dobrovolskis  José Luis Alvarellos  Jack J. Lissauer 《Icarus》2010,210(1):436-445

We have numerically integrated the orbits of ejecta from Telesto and Calypso, the two small Trojan companions of Saturn’s major satellite Tethys. Ejecta were launched with speeds comparable to or exceeding their parent’s escape velocity, consistent with impacts into regolith surfaces. We find that the fates of ejecta fall into several distinct categories, depending on both the speed and direction of launch.The slowest ejecta follow suborbital trajectories and re-impact their source moon in less than one day. Slightly faster debris barely escape their parent’s Hill sphere and are confined to tadpole orbits, librating about Tethys’ triangular Lagrange points L₄ (leading, near Telesto) or L₅ (trailing, near Calypso) with nearly the same orbital semi-major axis as Tethys, Telesto, and Calypso. These ejecta too eventually re-impact their source moon, but with a median lifetime of a few dozen years. Those which re-impact within the first 10 years or so have lifetimes near integer multiples of 348.6 days (half the tadpole period).Still faster debris with azimuthal velocity components ?10 m/s enter horseshoe orbits which enclose both L₄ and L₅ as well as L₃, but which avoid Tethys and its Hill sphere. These ejecta impact either Telesto or Calypso at comparable rates, with median lifetimes of several thousand years. However, they cannot reach Tethys itself; only the fastest ejecta, with azimuthal velocities ?40 m/s, achieve “passing orbits” which are able to encounter Tethys. Tethys accretes most of these ejecta within several years, but some 1% of them are scattered either inward to hit Enceladus or outward to strike Dione, over timescales on the order of a few hundred years.  相似文献   

Impact experiments: 1. Ejecta velocity distributions and related results from regolith targets     

William K. Hartmann 《Icarus》1985,63(1):69-98

Velocity distributions are determined for ejecta from 14 experimental impacts into regolithlike powders in near-vacuum conditions at velocities from 5 to 2321 m/sec. Of the two powders, the finer produces slower ejecta. Ejecta include conical sheets with ray-producing jets and (in the fastest impacts at $\text{V}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>imp</mtext>}}\text{? 700}\text{m/sec}\text{)}$ high-speed vertical plumes of uncertain nature. Velocities in the conical sheets and jets increase with impact velocity (Sect. 6). Ejecta velocities also increase as impact energy and crater size increase; a suggested method of estimating ejecta velocity distributions in large-scale impacts involves homologous scaling according to R/R_crater, where R is radial distances from the crater (Sect. 7). The data are consistent with Holsapple-Schmidt scaling relationships (Sect. 8). The fraction of initial total impact energy partitioned into ejecta kinetic energy increases from around 0.1% for the slow impacts to around 10% for the fast impacts, with the main increase probably at the onset of the hypervelocity impact regime (Sect. 9). Crater shapes are discussed, including an example of a possible “frozen” transient cavity (Sect. 10). Ejecta blanket thickness distributions (as a function of R) vary with target material and impact speed, but the results measured for hypervelocity impacts agree with published experimental and theoretical values (Sect. 11). The low ejecta velocities for powder targets relative to rock targets, together with the paucity of powder ejecta in low-speed impacts ( < 1 projectile mass for V_imp ≈ 10 m/sec) enhance early planetary accretion effeciency beyond that in some earlier theoretical models; 100% efficient accretion is found for certain primordial conditions (Sect. 12).  相似文献   

Distribution of ejecta from small impact craters     

Valery Shuvalov  Henning Dypvik 《Meteoritics & planetary science》2013,48(6):1034-1042

The present study focuses both on the influence of impact scale on ejecta expansion and on specific features of ejecta deposits around relatively small craters (i.e., those a few kilometers in width). The numerical model is based on the SOVA multimaterial multidimensional hydrocode, considering subaerial vertical impacts only, applying a 2‐D version of the code to projectiles of 100, 300, and 1000 m diameter. Ejecta can roughly be divided into two categories: “ballistic” ejecta and “convective” ejecta; the ballistic ejecta are the ejecta with which the air interacts only slightly, while the convective ejecta motion is entirely defined by the air flow. The degree of particle/air interaction can be defined by the time/length of particle travel before deceleration. Ejecta size‐distributions for the impacts modeled can be described by the same power law, but the size of maximum fragment increases with scale. There is no qualitative difference between the 100 m diameter projectile case and the 300 m diameter projectile impact. In both cases, fine ejecta decelerate in the air at a small distance from launching point and then rise to the stratosphere by air flows induced by the impacts. In the 1000 m‐scale impact, the mass of ejecta is so large that it moves the atmosphere itself to high altitudes. Thus, the atmosphere cannot decelerate even the fine ejecta and they consequently expand to the rarefied upper atmosphere. In the upper atmosphere, even fine ejecta move more or less ballistically and therefore may travel to high altitudes.  相似文献   

Regolith properties in the south polar region of the Moon from 70-cm radar polarimetry     

Bruce A. Campbell  Donald B. Campbell 《Icarus》2006,180(1):1-7

The south polar region of the Moon contains areas permanently shadowed from solar illumination, which may provide cold traps for volatiles such as water ice. Previous radar studies have emphasized the search for diagnostic polarization signatures of thick ice in areas close to the pole, but near-surface regolith properties and regional geology are also important to upcoming orbital studies of the shadowed terrain. To study regional regolith variations, we collected 70-cm wavelength, 450-m resolution, dual-circular polarization radar data for latitudes 60-90° S using the Arecibo and Greenbank telescopes. The circular polarization ratio, μc, is sensitive to differences in rock abundance at the surface and up to tens of m below the surface, depending upon the regolith loss tangent. We observe significant variations in μc, attributed to changes in the surface and subsurface rock population, across the south polar highlands. Concentric haloes of low polarization ratio surrounding Hausen, Moretus, and other young craters represent rock-poor ejecta layers. Values of μc up to ∼1 occur in the floors and near-rim deposits of Eratosthenian and Copernican craters, consistent with abundant rocky ejecta and/or fractured impact melt. Enhanced μc values also correspond to areas mapped as Orientale-derived, plains-forming material [Wilhelms, D.E., Howard, K.A., Wilshire, H.G., 1979. USGS Map I-1162], and similar polarization properties characterize the permanently shadowed floors of craters Faustini and Shoemaker. Small areas of very high (>1.5) circular polarization ratio occur on shadowed and seasonally sunlit terrain, and appear to be associated with small craters. We suggest that regolith in low-lying areas near the south pole is characterized by a significant impact melt component from Orientale, which provides a source for excavation of the block-rich ejecta around small craters observed in this and earlier radar studies. The lower portion of the interior wall of Shackleton crater, permanently shadowed from the sun but visible from Earth, is not significantly different in 70-cm scattering properties from diurnally/seasonally sunlit areas of craters with similar morphology.  相似文献   

Simulations of impact ejecta and regolith accumulation on Asteroid Eros     

D.G Korycansky  Erik Asphaug 《Icarus》2004,171(1):110-119

We have carried out a set of Monte Carlo simulations of the placement of impact ejecta on Asteroid 433 Eros, with the aim of understanding the distribution and accumulation of regolith. The simulations consisted of two stages: (1) random distribution of primary impact sites derived from a uniform isotropic flux of impactors, and (2) integration of the orbits of test particle ejecta launched from primary impact points until their re-impact or escape. We integrated the orbits of a large number of test particles (typically 10⁶ per individual case). For those particles that did not escape we collected the location of their re-impact points to build up a distribution on the asteroid surface. We find that secondary impact density is mostly controlled by the overall topography of the asteroid. A gray-scale image of the density of secondary ejecta impact points looks, in general, like a reduced-scale negative of the topography of the asteroid's surface. In other words, regolith migration tends to fill in the topography of Eros over time, whereas topographic highs are denuded of free material. Thus, the irregular shape of Eros is not a steady-state configuration, but the result of larger stochastic events.  相似文献   

Impact Experiments on Porous Icy-Silicate Cylindrical Blocks and the Implication for Disruption and Accumulation of Small Icy Bodies     

Masahiko ArakawaJacek Leliwa-Kopystynski  Norikazu Maeno 《Icarus》2002,158(2):516-531

Impact strength and cratering ejecta were studied for porous targets of pure ice and icy-silicate mixture in order to clarify the accumulation and destruction (shattering) condition of small icy bodies. The icy projectile impacted on the cylindrical targets with the porosity up to 55% at a velocity of 150 to 670 m/s at −10°C. The porosity dependence of the impact strength and that of the maximum ejecta velocity were measured in each type of these targets. As a result, the maximum ejecta velocity normalized by the impact velocity (V_e-max/V_i) is found to depend only on the porosity (φ), irrespective of the target type; a relationship is derived to be V_e-max/V_i=−2.17φ+1.29. The impact strength of pure ice increased with increased target porosity, but that of mixture target had an opposite trend; that is, the strength decreased with increased porosity. These porosity dependencies of the impact strength could be explained by the porosity dependence of the physical parameters such as impact pressure, pressure decay, and static strength. Finally, the accumulation of small icy bodies is discussed to show that the collisional events can be divided into three types by the porosity and the collision velocity according to our experimental results: mass loss, rubble pile formation, and regolith formation (compaction).  相似文献   

Cratering erosion of planetary embryos     

Vladimir Svetsov 《Icarus》2011,214(1):316-326

I have performed 3D numerical hydrodynamic simulations of impacts of stony projectiles on stony planar targets in a range of impact velocities from 1.25 to 60 km/s. The projectile and target masses ejected at speeds greater than some given values have been calculated. This provided a possibility to determine impact erosion of a target which undergoes bombardment with comparatively small bodies. The relative losses of target masses and masses of retained projectile material have been averaged over impact angles and approximated by analytical formulas as functions of impact and escape velocities. The balance between escaped material of a target and retained material of a projectile determines growth or reduction of a target mass. The target cratering erosion predominates over the projectile retention when the impacts have velocities of more than 3-5 times the escape velocity of a target. The results can be applied to collisions of planetary embryos with planetesimals, which have higher velocities than embryo-embryo impacts. Estimates for impact velocities 1-10 km/s show that while large embryos accrete planetesimals smaller embryos erode and can completely vanish or partly lose their silicate shells if they are differentiated. Application of calculated erosion efficiency to Mercury made it possible to test a hypothesis (Vityazev, A.V., Pechernikova, G.V., Safronov, V.S. [1988]. Formation of Mercury and removal of its silicate shell. In: Vilas, F., Chapman, C.R., Matthews, M.S. (Eds.), Mercury. Univ. Arizona Press., Tucson, pp. 667−669) that differentiated massive proto-Mercury has lost its mantle due to collisions with objects of moderate sizes. It turned out that in order for this to happen, relative collision velocities must exceed 25 km/s. As alternatives to the widely-known hypothesis of a giant impact on a massive proto-Mercury, other possibilities are considered, which do not require such high speeds. The first one is formation of a number of small-sized metal-rich embryos which lose their silicate shells due to cratering erosion. The second is that a small proto-Mercury was metallic and gained its mantle at the latest stage of its accumulation when it grew so large that the erosion became ineffective.  相似文献   

Fates of satellite ejecta in the Saturn system     

José Luis Alvarellos  Kevin J. Zahnle  Patrick Hamill 《Icarus》2005,178(1):104-123

We use conventional numerical integrations to assess the fates of impact ejecta in the Saturn system. For specificity we consider impact ejecta launched from four giant craters on three satellites: Herschel on Mimas, Odysseus and Penelope on Tethys, and Tirawa on Rhea. Speeds, trajectories, and size of the ejecta are consistent with impact on a competent surface (“spalls”) and into unconsolidated regolith. We do not include near-field effects, jetting, or effects peculiar to highly oblique impact. Ejecta are launched at velocities comparable to or exceeding the satellite's escape speed. Most ejecta are swept up by the source moon on time-scales of a few to several decades, and produce craters no larger than 19 km in diameter, with typical craters in the range of a few km. As much as 17% of ejecta reach satellites other than the source moon. Our models generate cratering patterns consistent with a planetocentric origin of most small impact craters on the saturnian icy moons, but the predicted craters tend to be smaller than putative Population II craters. We conclude that ejecta from the known giant craters in the saturnian system do not fully account for Population II craters.  相似文献   

Planetary growth with collisional fragmentation and gas drag     

Hiroshi Kobayashi  Hidekazu Tanaka  Satoshi Inaba 《Icarus》2010,209(2):836-492

As planetary embryos grow, gravitational stirring of planetesimals by embryos strongly enhances random velocities of planetesimals and makes collisions between planetesimals destructive. The resulting fragments are ground down by successive collisions. Eventually the smallest fragments are removed by the inward drift due to gas drag. Therefore, the collisional disruption depletes the planetesimal disk and inhibits embryo growth. We provide analytical formulae for the final masses of planetary embryos, taking into account planetesimal depletion due to collisional disruption. Furthermore, we perform the statistical simulations for embryo growth (which excellently reproduce results of direct N-body simulations if disruption is neglected). These analytical formulae are consistent with the outcome of our statistical simulations. Our results indicate that the final embryo mass at several AU in the minimum-mass solar nebula can reach about ∼0.1 Earth mass within 10⁷ years. This brings another difficulty in formation of gas giant planets, which requires cores with ∼10 Earth masses for gas accretion. However, if the nebular disk is 10 times more massive than the minimum-mass solar nebula and the initial planetesimal size is larger than 100 km, as suggested by some models of planetesimal formation, the final embryo mass reaches about 10 Earth masses at 3-4 AU. The enhancement of embryos’ collisional cross sections by their atmosphere could further increase their final mass to form gas giant planets at 5-10 AU in the Solar System.  相似文献   

Distribution of Impact Locations and Velocities of Earth Meteorites on the Moon     

John C. Armstrong 《Earth, Moon, and Planets》2010,107(1):43-54

Following the analytical work of Armstrong et al. (Icarus 160:183–196, 2002), we detail an expanded N-body calculation of the direct transfer of terrestrial material to the Moon during a giant impact. By simulating 1.4 million particles over a range of launch velocities and ejecta angles, we have derived a map of the impact velocities, impact angles, and probable impact sites on the moon over the last 4 billion years. The maps indicate that the impacts with the highest vertical impact speeds are concentrated on the leading edge, with lower velocity/higher-angle impacts more numerous on the Moon’s trailing edge. While this enhanced simulation indicates the estimated globally averaged direct transfer fraction reported in Armstrong et al. (Icarus 160:183–196, 2002) is overestimated by a factor of 3–6, local concentrations can reach or exceed the previously published estimate. The most favorable location for large quantities of low velocity terrestrial material is 50 W, 85 S, with 8.4 times more impacts per square kilometer than the lunar surface average. This translates to 300–500 kg km⁻², compared to 200 kg km⁻² from the previous estimate. The maps also indicate a significant amount of material impacting elsewhere in the polar regions, especially near the South Pole-Aiken basin, a likely target for sample return in the near future. The magnitudes of the impact speeds cluster near 3 km/s, but there is a bimodal distribution in impact angles, leading to 43% of impacts with very low (<1 km/s) vertical impact speeds. This, combined with the enhanced surface density of meteorites in specific regions, increases the likelihood of weakly shocked terrestrial material being identified and recovered on the Moon.  相似文献   

The Hadley Rille enstatite chondrite and its agglutinate-like rim: Impact melting during accretion to the Moon     

Alan E. RUBIN 《Meteoritics & planetary science》1997,32(1):135-141

Abstract— Hadley Rille is a millimeter-size EH chondrite containing euhedral and acicular enstatite grains, kamacite globules and preferentially aligned silicate aggregates separated by elongated kamacite-rich patches. The Hadley Rille chondrite was significantly impact melted when it accreted to the lunar regolith at relative velocities of ～>3 km s^?1; ～65–75% of the chondrules present initially were melted. During the impact, portions of the local regolith were melted and an agglutinate-like rim formed around the chondritic projectile; the rim consists of flow-banded vesicular glass, blebs of troilite and low-Ni metallic Fe, rock fragments, glass(?) shards, and mineral grains. The mineral grains include enstatite (which is otherwise absent from the Moon and must have been derived from the projectile) and poorly characterized, micrometer-size phases enriched in light rare-earth-elements (LREE), which probably formed during the impact. Several of the rock fragments contain <33 mg/g Cl, which was probably derived through impact-induced volatilization of Cl from chondrule mesostases in the EH projectile.  相似文献