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1.
The size distribution of main belt of asteroids is determined primarily by collisional processes. Large asteroids break up and form smaller asteroids in a collisional cascade, with the outcome controlled by the strength-size relationship for asteroids. In addition to collisional processes, the non-collisional removal of asteroids from the main belt (and their insertion into the near-Earth asteroid (NEA) population) is critical, and involves several effects: strong resonances increase the orbital eccentricity of asteroids and cause them to enter the inner planet region; chaotic diffusion by numerous weak resonances causes a slow leak of asteroids into the Mars- and Earth-crossing populations; and the Yarkovsky effect, a radiation force on asteroids, is the primary process that drives asteroids into these resonant escape routes. Yarkovsky drift is size-dependent and can modify the main-belt size distribution. The NEA size distribution is primarily determined by its source, the main-belt population, and by the size-dependent processes that deliver bodies from the main belt. All of these effects are simulated in a numerical collisional evolution model that incorporates removal by non-collisional processes. We test our model against a wide range of observational constraints, such as the observed main-belt and NEA size distributions, the number of asteroid families, the preserved basaltic crust of Vesta and its large south-pole impact basin, the cosmic ray exposure ages of meteorites, and the cratering records on asteroids. We find a strength-size relationship for main-belt asteroids and non-collisional removal rates from the main belt such that our model fits these constraints as best as possible within the parameter space we explore. Our results are consistent with other independent estimates of strength and removal rates.  相似文献   

2.
The fossilized size distribution of the main asteroid belt   总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1  
Planet formation models suggest the primordial main belt experienced a short but intense period of collisional evolution shortly after the formation of planetary embryos. This period is believed to have lasted until Jupiter reached its full size, when dynamical processes (e.g., sweeping resonances, excitation via planetary embryos) ejected most planetesimals from the main belt zone. The few planetesimals left behind continued to undergo comminution at a reduced rate until the present day. We investigated how this scenario affects the main belt size distribution over Solar System history using a collisional evolution model (CoEM) that accounts for these events. CoEM does not explicitly include results from dynamical models, but instead treats the unknown size of the primordial main belt and the nature/timing of its dynamical depletion using innovative but approximate methods. Model constraints were provided by the observed size frequency distribution of the asteroid belt, the observed population of asteroid families, the cratered surface of differentiated Asteroid (4) Vesta, and the relatively constant crater production rate of the Earth and Moon over the last 3 Gyr. Using CoEM, we solved for both the shape of the initial main belt size distribution after accretion and the asteroid disruption scaling law . In contrast to previous efforts, we find our derived function is very similar to results produced by numerical hydrocode simulations of asteroid impacts. Our best fit results suggest the asteroid belt experienced as much comminution over its early history as it has since it reached its low-mass state approximately 3.9-4.5 Ga. These results suggest the main belt's wavy-shaped size-frequency distribution is a “fossil” from this violent early epoch. We find that most diameter D?120 km asteroids are primordial, with their physical properties likely determined during the accretion epoch. Conversely, most smaller asteroids are byproducts of fragmentation events. The observed changes in the asteroid spin rate and lightcurve distributions near D∼100-120 km are likely to be a byproduct of this difference. Estimates based on our results imply the primordial main belt population (in the form of D<1000 km bodies) was 150-250 times larger than it is today, in agreement with recent dynamical simulations.  相似文献   

3.
We investigate the flux of main-belt asteroid fragments into resonant orbits converting them into near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), and the variability of this flux due to chance interasteroidal collisions. A numerical model is used, based on collisional physics consistent with the results of laboratory impact experiments. The assumed main-belt asteroid size distribution is derived from that of known asteroids extrapolated down to sizes of ≈ 40 cm, modified in such a way to yield a quasi-stationary fragment production rate over times ≈ 100 Myr. The results show that the asteroid belt can supply a few hundred km-sized NEAs per year, well enough to sustain the current population of such bodies. On the other hand, if our collisional physics is correct, the number of existing 10-km objects implies that these objects either have very long-lived orbits, or must come from a different source (i.e., comets). Our model predicts that the fragments supplied from the asteroid belt have initially a power-law size distribution somewhat steeper than the observed one, suggesting preferential removal of small objects. The component of the NEA population with dynamical lifetimes shorter than or of the order of 1 Myr can vary by a factor reaching up to a few tens, due to single large-scale collisions in the main belt; these fluctuations are enhanced for smaller bodies and faster evolutionary time scales. As a consequence, the Earth's cratering rate can also change by about an order of magnitude over the 0.1 to 1 Myr time scales. Despite these sporadic spikes, when averaged over times of 10 Myr or longer the fluctuations are unlikely to exceed a factor two.  相似文献   

4.
Dohnanyi's [J. geophys. Res. 74, 2531–2554, 1969; in Physical Studies of Minor Planets (edited by T. Gehrels), pp. 263–295. NASA-SP 267, 1971] theory predicts that a collisional system such as the asteroid population should rapidly relax to a power-law equilibrium size distribution, provided all the collisional response parameters are independent of size. However, we have found that Dohnanyi did not include in a consistent way in the theory the possible occurrence of a small-size cutoff in the distribution. We have carried out a number of numerical simulations of the collisional evolution process, showing that the cutoff results in a wavy pattern superimposed on Dohnanyi's equilibrium power law, which affects the distribution up to sizes of tens of km. The pattern arises because particles just above the cutoff are not removed by catastrophic impacts by smaller projectiles, and therefore are created by break-up of larger bodies faster than they are eliminated; larger particles are increasingly depleted up to the size where the smallest shattering projectile exceeds the cutoff, and beyond that the removal rate is reduced and the distribution flattens. Thus, to be effective in producing the waves, the cutoff (or any other persisting “discontinuity” in the particle properties) must be sharp over a size range corresponding to the threshold projectile-to-target ratio for fragmentation. The presence of a small-size cutoff in the real asteroid belt is an open question, since it may be generated by poorly known non-gravitational effects acting on μm-sized dust, and may be affected by influx of cometary debris. However, the observational evidence for a variable characteristic exponent of the size distribution of interplanetary bodies is now strong, and the cutoff effect may provide a simple explanation for this finding.  相似文献   

5.
The steady-state population of bodies resulting from a collisional cascade depends on how material strength varies with size. We find a simple expression for the power-law index of the population, given a power law that describes how material strength varies with size. This result is extended to the case relevant for the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt, in which the material strength is described by 2 separate power laws—one for small bodies and one for larger bodies. We find that the power-law index of the small body population is unaffected by the strength law for the large bodies, and vice versa. Simple analytical expressions describe a wave that is superimposed on the large body population because of the transition between the two power laws describing the strength. These analytical results yield excellent agreement with a numerical simulation of collisional evolution. These results will help to interpret observations of the asteroids and KBOs, and constrain the strength properties of those objects.  相似文献   

6.
Andrew F Cheng 《Icarus》2004,169(2):357-372
A new synthesis of asteroid collisional evolution is motivated by the question of whether most asteroids larger than ∼1 km size are strengthless gravitational aggregates (rubble piles). NEAR found Eros not to be a rubble pile, but a shattered collisional fragment, with a through-going fracture system, and an average of about 20 m regolith cover. Of four asteroids visited by spacecraft, none appears likely to be a rubble pile, except perhaps Mathilde. Nevertheless, current understanding of asteroid collisions and size-dependent strength, and the observed distribution of rotation rates versus size, have led to a theoretical consensus that many or most asteroids larger than 1 km should be rubble piles. Is Eros, the best-observed asteroid, highly unusual because it is not a rubble pile? Is Mathilde, if it is a rubble pile, like most asteroids? What would be expected for the small asteroid Itokawa, the MUSES-C sample return target? An asteroid size distribution is synthesized from the Minor Planet Center listing and results of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, an Infrared Space Observatory survey, the Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite survey. A new picture emerges of asteroid collisional evolution, in which the well-known Dohnanyi result, that the size distribution tends toward a self-similar form with a 2.5-index power law, is overturned because of scale-dependent collision physics. Survival of a basaltic crust on Vesta can be accommodated, together with formation of many exposed metal cores. The lifetimes against destruction are estimated as 3 Gyr at the size of Eros, 10 Gyr at ten times that size, and 40 Gyr at the size of Vesta. Eros as a shattered collisional fragment is not highly unusual. The new picture reveals the new possibility of a transition size in the collisional state, where asteroids below 5 km size would be primarily collisional breakup fragments whereas much larger asteroids are mostly eroded or shattered survivors of collisions. In this case, well-defined families would be found in asteroids larger than about 5 km size, but for smaller asteroids, families may no longer be readily separated from a background population. Moreover, the measured boulder size distribution on Eros is re-interpreted as a sample of impactor size distributions in the asteroid belt. The regolith on Eros may result largely from the last giant impact, and the same may be true of Itokawa, in which case about a meter of regolith would be expected there. Even a small asteroid like Itokawa may be a shattered object with regolith cover.  相似文献   

7.
We investigate the flux of main-belt asteroid fragments into resonant orbits converting them into near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), and the variability of this flux due to chance interasteroidal collisions. A numerical model is used, based on collisional physics consistent with the results of laboratory impact experiments. The assumed main-belt asteroid size distribution is derived from that of known asteroids extrapolated down to sizes of 40 cm, modified in such a way to yield a quasi-stationary fragment production rate over times 100 Myr. The results show that the asteroid belt can supply a few hundred km-sized NEAs per year, well enough to sustain the current population of such bodies. On the other hand, if our collisional physics is correct, the number of existing 10-km objects implies that these objects either have very long-lived orbits, or must come from a different source (i.e., comets). Our model predicts that the fragments supplied from the asteroid belt have initially a power-law size distribution somewhat steeper than the observed one, suggesting preferential removal of small objects. The component of the NEA population with dynamical lifetimes shorter than or of the order of 1 Myr can vary by a factor reaching up to a few tens, due to single large-scale collisions in the main belt; these fluctuations are enhanced for smaller bodies and faster evolutionary time scales. As a consequence, the Earth's cratering rate can also change by about an order of magnitude over the 0.1 to 1 Myr time scales. Despite these sporadic spikes, when averaged over times of 10 Myr or longer the fluctuations are unlikely to exceed a factor two.  相似文献   

8.
9.
O'Brien and Greenberg [O'Brien, D.P., Greenberg, R., 2005. Icarus 178, 179-212] developed a self-consistent numerical model of the collisional and dynamical evolution of the main-belt and NEA populations that was tested against a diverse range of observational and theoretical constraints. In this paper, we use those results to update the asteroid cratering model of Greenberg et al. [Greenberg, R., Nolan, M.C., Bottke, W.F., Kolvoord, R.A., Veverka, J., 1994. Icarus 107, 84-97; Greenberg, R., Bottke, W.F., Nolan, M., Geissler, P., Petit, J., Durda, D.D., Asphaug, E., Head, J., 1996. Icarus 120, 106-118], and show that the main-belt asteroid population from the O'Brien and Greenberg collisional/dynamical evolution modeling is consistent with the crater records on Gaspra, Ida, Mathilde, and Eros, the four asteroids that have been observed by spacecraft.  相似文献   

10.
The main belt is believed to have originally contained an Earth mass or more of material, enough to allow the asteroids to accrete on relatively short timescales. The present-day main belt, however, only contains ∼5×10−4 Earth masses. Numerical simulations suggest that this mass loss can be explained by the dynamical depletion of main belt material via gravitational perturbations from planetary embryos and a newly-formed Jupiter. To explore this scenario, we combined dynamical results from Petit et al. [Petit, J. Morbidelli, A., Chambers, J., 2001. The primordial excitation and clearing of the asteroid belt. Icarus 153, 338-347] with a collisional evolution code capable of tracking how the main belt undergoes comminution and dynamical depletion over 4.6 Gyr [Bottke, W.F., Durda, D., Nesvorny, D., Jedicke, R., Morbidelli, A., Vokrouhlický, D., Levison, H., 2005. The fossilized size distribution of the main asteroid belt. Icarus 175, 111-140]. Our results were constrained by the main belt's size-frequency distribution, the number of asteroid families produced by disruption events from diameter D>100 km parent bodies over the last 3-4 Gyr, the presence of a single large impact crater on Vesta's intact basaltic crust, and the relatively constant lunar and terrestrial impactor flux over the last 3 Gyr. We used our model to set limits on the initial size of the main belt as well as Jupiter's formation time. We find the most likely formation time for Jupiter was 3.3±2.6 Myr after the onset of fragmentation in the main belt. These results are consistent with the estimated mean disk lifetime of 3 Myr predicted by Haisch et al. [Haisch, K.E., Lada, E.A., Lada, C.J., 2001. Disk frequencies and lifetimes in young clusters. Astrophys. J. 553, L153-L156]. The post-accretion main belt population, in the form of diameter D?1000 km planetesimals, was likely to have been 160±40 times the current main belt's mass. This corresponds to 0.06-0.1 Earth masses, only a small fraction of the total mass thought to have existed in the main belt zone during planet formation. The remaining mass was most likely taken up by planetary embryos formed in the same region. Our results suggest that numerous D>200 km planetesimals disrupted early in Solar System history, but only a small fraction of their fragments survived the dynamical depletion event described above. We believe this may explain the limited presence of iron-rich M-type, olivine-rich A-type, and non-Vesta V-type asteroids in the main belt today. The collisional lifetimes determined for main belt asteroids agree with the cosmic ray exposure ages of stony meteorites and are consistent with the limited collisional evolution detected among large Koronis family members. Using the same model, we investigated the near-Earth object (NEO) population. We show the shape of the NEO size distribution is a reflection of the main belt population, with main belt asteroids driven to resonances by Yarkovsky thermal forces. We used our model of the NEO population over the last 3 Gyr, which is consistent with the current population determined by telescopic and satellite data, to explore whether the majority of small craters (D<0.1-1 km) formed on Mercury, the Moon, and Mars were produced by primary impacts or by secondary impacts generated by ejecta from large craters. Our results suggest that most small craters formed on these worlds were a by-product of secondary rather than primary impacts.  相似文献   

11.
Insights into collisional physics may be obtained by studying the asteroid belt, where large-scale collisions produced groups of asteroid fragments with similar orbits and spectra known as the asteroid families. Here we describe our initial study of the Karin cluster, a small asteroid family that formed 5.8±0.2 Myr ago in the outer main belt. The Karin cluster is an ideal ‘natural laboratory’ for testing the codes used to simulate large-scale collisions because the observed fragments produced by the 5.8-Ma collision suffered apparently only limited dynamical and collisional erosion. To date, we have performed more than 100 hydrocode simulations of impacts with non-rotating monolithic parent bodies. We found good fits to the size-frequency distribution of the observed fragments in the Karin cluster and to the ejection speeds inferred from their orbits. These results suggest that the Karin cluster was formed by a disruption of an ≈33-km-diameter asteroid, which represents a much larger parent body mass than previously estimated. The mass ratio between the parent body and the largest surviving fragment, (832) Karin, is ≈0.15-0.2, corresponding to a highly catastrophic event. Most of the parent body material was ejected as fragments ranging in size from yet-to-be-discovered sub-km members of the Karin cluster to dust grains. The impactor was ≈5.8 km across. We found that the ejections speeds of smaller fragments produced by the collision were larger than those of the larger fragments. The mean ejection speeds of >3-km-diameter fragments were . The model and observed ejection velocity fields have different morphologies perhaps pointing to a problem with our modeling and/or assumptions. We estimate that ∼5% of the large asteroid fragments created by the collision should have satellites detectable by direct imaging (separations larger than 0.1 arcsec). We also predict a large number of ejecta binary systems with tight orbits. These binaries, located in the outer main belt, could potentially be detected by lightcurve observations. Hydrocode modeling provides important constraints on the interior structure of asteroids. Our current work suggests that the parent asteroid of the Karin cluster may have been an unfractured (or perhaps only lightly fractured) monolithic object. Simulations of impacts into fractured/rubble pile targets were so far unable to produce the observed large gap between the first and second largest fragment in the Karin cluster, and the steep slope at small sizes (≈6.3 differential index). On the other hand, the parent asteroid of the Karin cluster was produced by an earlier disruptive collision that created the much larger, Koronis family some 2-3 Gyr ago. Standard interpretation of hydrocode modeling then suggests that the parent asteroid of the Karin cluster should have been formed as a rubble pile from Koronis family debris. We discuss several solutions to this apparent paradox.  相似文献   

12.
A.W. Harris 《Icarus》1979,40(1):145-153
A model for the evolution of the mean rotation rate of asteroids arising from mutual collisions yields reasonable agreement with observed rotation rates. The mean rotation rate of large asteroids for which gravitational binding energy exceeds material strength should be constant with respect to size. Since collisional erosion of small asteroids is more rapid than collisional spin-up, the onset of increased mean rotation rate occurs at a considerably smaller radius than the size at which material strength begins to dominate gravitational binding energy. For strong igneous rock, increased rotation rates are not expected among bodies larger than a few kilometers. If there is a real trend toward more rapid rotation among asteroids of ≈1?km radius (Degewij and Gehrels, (1976). Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc.8, 459), then a substantial population of strong asteroids in that size range is implied by this model. The slower mean rotation rate of C-type asteroids than other types (paper I) implies a ratio of densities of ≈2:3 between those types, in the context of this model.  相似文献   

13.
The Trans-Neptunian region is yet another example of a collisional system of small bodies in the Solar System. In the last decade the number of TNOs with reliable orbital elements is steadily increasing and even if it is still premature to compare models with observations, we can start to have some idea of the orbital structure and magnitude distribution, so that some loose constraints may be set on the critical parameters that affect collisional evolution. With this aim we have developed a model for the collisional evolution of the Trans-Neptunian region by dividing it into three main different populations, corresponding to the dynamical classification proposed by Gladman et al. [2001.The structure of the Kuiper Belt: size distribution and radial extent. Astrophys. J. 122, 1051] (Resonant region, Classical Belt and Scattered Disk). A multi-zone collisional model is developed, in which each zone can collisionally interact with each other. The model takes into account the known physics of the fragmentation of icy/rocky bodies at the typical relative velocities of TNOs, according to velocity distributions corresponding to each evolving zone. The dependence of the evolution of the considered populations on physically critical collisional parameters is investigated and the corresponding results are presented, including estimates of the abundance of gravitational aggregates in the studied populations.  相似文献   

14.
The orbital parameters of small asteroids change with time, as a consequence of the so-called Yarkovsky effect. This leads to a steady removal of objects from the Main Belt, which takes place when the objects reach one of the major resonant regions in the orbital elements space. The process may influence the evolution of the inventory and size distribution of Main Belt asteroids, but it has not been taken into account by classical models of the collisional evolution of the asteroid population. In this paper we discuss the role of the Yarkovsky effect in producing the current observed size distribution. We show that adding Yarkovsky effect to purely collisional mechanisms may increase the removal of objects at sizes around 1 km by a factor of about 2 with respect to a purely collisional scenario. Moreover, waves in the size distribution may also be produced. However, taking also into account current uncertainties in the efficiency of purely collisional mechanisms, the role of the Yarkovsky effect seems not dominant, and cannot be unambiguously determined.  相似文献   

15.
F. Marzari  A. Rossi  D.J. Scheeres 《Icarus》2011,214(2):622-631
The rotation rate distribution of small Main Belt asteroids is dominated by YORP and collisions. These mechanism act differently depending on the size of the bodies and give rise to non-linear effects when they both operate. Using a Monte Carlo method we model the formation of a steady state population of small asteroids under the influence of both mechanisms and the rotation rate distribution is compared to the observed one as derived from Pravec et al. (Pravec, P. et al. [2008]. Icarus 197, 497-504). A better match to observations is obtained with respect to the case in which only YORP is considered. In particular, an excess of slow rotators is produced in the model with both collisions and YORP because bodies driven to slow rotation by YORP have a random walk-like evolution of the spin induced by repeated collisions with small projectiles. This is a dynamical evolution different from tumbling and it lasts until a large impact takes the body to a faster rotation rate. According to our model, the rotational fission of small asteroids is a very frequent event and might explain objects like P/2010 A2 and its associated tail of millimeter-sized dust particles. The mass loss during fission of small asteroids might significantly influence the overall collisional evolution of the belt. Fission can in fact be considered as an additional erosion mechanism, besides cratering and fragmentation, acting only at small diameters.  相似文献   

16.
Meteorites may be pieces of main-belt asteroids, derived by cratering collisions. The physical strength of an asteroid critically affects the quantity of ejecta that can be placed in orbits (probably resonant) that evolve to cross the Earth's. Asteroid strengths very widely due to initial composition and size (e.g., weak carbonaceous material or strong rock), subsequent geophysical evolution (e.g., formation of a strong iron core), and subsequent collisional evolution (e.g., conversion of a strong rocky body into a weak rubble pile). The meteorite yield on Earth further depends on meteorite strength, which affects longevity in space and survival through the atmosphere. We show that meteorites may be derived mainly by cratering rather than by disruptive fragmentation and from large main-belt asteroids rather than from small, Earth-approaching bodies. The model combines a wide variety of evidence from various disciplines to yield results consistent with meteorite statistics. However, no claim is made for uniqueness of this model, and many elements still admit considerable uncertainty.  相似文献   

17.
We consider constraints on the planetesimal population residing in the discs of AU Microscopii (AU Mic), β Pictoris (β Pic) and Fomalhaut taking into account their observed thicknesses and normal disc opacities. We estimate that bodies of radius 5, 180 and 70 km are responsible for initiating the collisional cascade accounting for the dust production for AU Mic, β Pic and Fomalhaut's discs, respectively, at break radii from the star where their surface brightness profiles change slope. Larger bodies, of radius 1000 km and with surface density of the order of 0.01 g cm−2, are required to explain the thickness of these discs assuming that they are heated by gravitational stirring. A comparison between the densities of the two sizes suggests the size distribution in the largest bodies is flatter than that observed in the Kuiper belt. AU Mic's disc requires the shallowest size distribution for bodies with radius greater than 10 km suggesting that the disc contains planetary embryos experiencing a stage of runaway growth.  相似文献   

18.
Understanding the evolution of asteroid spin states is challenging work, in part because asteroids have a variety of orbits, shapes, spin states, and collisional histories but also because they are strongly influenced by gravitational and non-gravitational (YORP) torques. Using efficient numerical models designed to investigate asteroid orbit and spin dynamics, we study here how several individual asteroids have had their spin states modified over time in response to these torques (i.e., 951 Gaspra, 60 Echo, 32 Pomona, 230 Athamantis, 105 Artemis). These test cases which sample semimajor axis and inclination space in the inner main belt, were chosen as probes into the large parameter space described above. The ultimate goal is to use these data to statistically characterize how all asteroids in the main belt population have reached their present-day spin states. We found that the spin dynamics of prograde-rotating asteroids in the inner main belt is generally less regular than that of the retrograde-rotating ones because of numerous overlapping secular spin-orbit resonances. These resonances strongly affect the spin histories of all bodies, while those of small asteroids (?40 km) are additionally influenced by YORP torques. In most cases, gravitational and non-gravitational torques cause asteroid spin axis orientations to vary widely over short (?1 My) timescales. Our results show that (951) Gaspra has a highly chaotic rotation state induced by an overlap of the s and s6 spin-orbit resonances. This hinders our ability to investigate its past evolution and infer whether thermal torques have acted on Gaspra's spin axis since its origin.  相似文献   

19.
It is well known that asteroid families have steeper absolute magnitude (H) distributions for H < 12-13 values than the background population. Beyond this threshold, the shapes of the absolute magnitude distributions in the family/background populations are difficult to determine, primarily because both populations are not yet observationally complete. Using a recently generated catalog containing the proper elements of 106,284 main belt asteroids and an innovative approach, we debiased the absolute magnitude distribution of the major asteroid families relative to the local background populations. Our results indicate that the magnitude distributions of asteroid families are generally not steeper than those of the local background populations for H > 13 (i.e., roughly for diameters smaller than 10 km). In particular, most families have shallower magnitude distributions than the background in the range 15-17 mag. Thus, we conclude that, contrary to previous speculations, the population of kilometer-size asteroids in the main belt is dominated by background bodies rather than by members of the most prominent asteroid families. We believe this result explains why the Spacewatch, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and Subaru asteroid surveys all derived a shallow magnitude distribution for the dimmer members of the main belt population.We speculate on a few dynamical and collisional scenarios that can explain this shallow distribution. One possibility is that the original magnitude distributions of the families (i.e., at the moment of the formation event) were very shallow for H larger than ∼ 13, and that most families have not yet had the time to collisionally evolve to the equilibrium magnitude distribution that presumably characterizes the background population. A second possibility is that family members smaller than about 10 km, eroded over time by collisional and dynamical processes, have not yet been repopulated by the break-up of larger family members. For this same reason, the older (and possibly characterized by a weaker impact strength) background population shows a shallow distribution in the range 15-60 km.  相似文献   

20.
Thermal models of asteroids generally assume that they accreted either instantaneously or over an extended interval with a prescribed growth rate. It is conventionally assumed that the onset of accretion of chondrite parent bodies was delayed until a substantial fraction of the initial 26Al had decayed. However, this interval is not consistent with the early melting, and differentiation of parent bodies of iron meteorites. Formation time scales are tested by dynamical simulations of accretion from small primary planetesimals. Gravitational accretion yields rapid runaway growth of large planetary embryos until most smaller bodies are depleted. In a given simulation, all asteroid‐sized bodies have comparable growth times, regardless of size. For plausible parameters, growth times are shorter than the lifetime of 26Al, consistent with thermal models that assume instantaneous accretion. Rapid growth after planetesimal formation is consistent with differentiation of parent bodies of iron meteorites, but not with the assumed delay in formation of chondritic bodies. After the initial growth stage, there is an interval of slower evolution until the belt is stirred and the embryos are dynamically removed. During this interval, a fraction of asteroid‐sized bodies experience large accretional impacts, allowing bodies of the same final size to have very different histories of radius versus time. Accretion from small primary planetesimals leaves some fraction of material in bodies small enough to preserve CAIs while avoiding heating by 26Al. Unheated material can be a significant fraction of the mass that remains after large embryos are removed from the Main Belt.  相似文献   

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