New Satellite Formation Models as a Consequence of Planetesimal Evolution

Details New Satellite Formation Models as a Consequence of Planetesimal Evolution New Satellite Formation Models as a Consequence of Planetesimal Evolution

Sep 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.5204j&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #52.04

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Different models have been proposed for the growth of planetesimals in the transneptunian region and meteorite belt. Growth times range from 0.1 to 10 My for a planetesimal about 100 km in radius. The formation timescale has consequences for the amount of physical and chemical alteration the planetesimals experience prior to their accretion into larger, objects, such as satellites, asteroids, transneptunian objects, and dwarf planets. It has been suggested that planetesimals as large as 100 km could have been accreted in satellites and asteroids (cf. Mosqueira and Estrada 2003, 2005; Bottke et al. 2009). However dynamical models also indicate that a large fraction of the large planetesimals population in the transneptunian region could have been subjected to intense collisional grinding so that a population of smaller planetesimals may have been involved in the formation of icy satellites.
We present a detailed chemical, thermal and structural model of planetesimals in the size range 10-100 km. The end-member model is compared against the properties of Saturn's irregular satellite Phoebe. We consider different initial conditions, especially the time of formation with respect to the production of calcium-aluminum inclusions and the nature of the ice (amorphous vs. crystalline with clathrate hydrates). From this model we infer constraints on the structure, temperature, and chemistry of the planetesimals at the time of their accretion into larger objects, whether these planetesimals preserved their integrity or resulted from the disruption of larger specimens. We infer that icy satellites most probably accreted a mixture of water ice, ammonia, clathrate hydrates, hydrated and dry silicates, hydrated salts, organics, etc. These conditions should be reflected in future geophysical models.
Acknowledgement: This work has been conduction at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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