Disruptive Impacts into Small Asteroids

Details Disruptive Impacts into Small Asteroids Disruptive Impacts into Small Asteroids

Jun 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996dps....28.1031a&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #28, #10.31; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 28, p.1102

Other

2

Scientific paper

Inversion of radar images (Ostro et al 1990, Science 248:1523; Hudson and Ostro 1994, Science 263:940--943) of the Earth-crossing asteroid 4769 Castalia yielded a shape model bifurcated into distinct, km-sized lobes. We construct a smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) rendering in the manner described by Asphaug et al (Icarus 120:158--184) using 2.1g/cm(3) rock seeded with explicit flaws governing crack growth (Benz and Asphaug 1995, Comp. Phys. Comm. 87:235--265). We subject this rocky target to a variety of impacts (altering impactor velocity, trajectory, energy, composition, etc.) and also explore icy and shattered targets. An 8m radius impactor at 5 km/s causes extensive fragmentation (white particles, below) and cracks the lobes apart. 12% of the target escapes in this impact, and Delta V~ 3cm/s for the non-escaping remainder. A 3m impactor creates a ~ 200m diameter noncatastrophic crater plus radial cracks; the disruption threshold for an irregular rock of this size is thus Q(*~) 5x 10(5) erg/g. Because Castalia may have formed by low-velocity collision between two separate objects in the first place, we next replace the region between the lobes with zero-strength, low-density material. The impacted lobe suffers nearly total damage, while the other lobe is shielded by the discontinuity. To determine the final stage of impact evolution, we perform N-body gravitational calculations to determine the trajectories of ejecta and larger fragments. This research presumes Castalia to be ``typical" in some way. Future work will include radar and visual shape determinations for asteroids Toutatis, Eros and Miranda. This research is supported in part by NASA grant NAGW-3904.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Disruptive Impacts into Small Asteroids does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Disruptive Impacts into Small Asteroids, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Disruptive Impacts into Small Asteroids will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1307217