Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...211.8505l&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #85.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.877
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Collisions are a major modification process over the history of the Kuiper Belt. Recent work illuminates the complex array of possible outcomes of individual collisions onto porous, volatile bodies. The cumulative effects of such collisions on the surface features, composition, and internal structure of Kuiper Belt Objects are not yet known. In order to begin to understand how well present day bodies represent primordial planetesimals we present results from a series of impact simulations into rock and ice targets using a new hybridized hydrocode $N$-body numerical method. This work is the first stage of a systematic study to model impacts between Kuiper belt objects. This new method allows detailed modeling of shock propagation and material modification as well as gravitational reaccumulation. We have found that the largest remnants are heterogeneous and contain a range of moderately to highly shocked material. The surface of the remnants is more heterogeneous than the interior which consists predominantly of moderately shocked material. It is possible that the heterogeneity on the surface of the remnants could be observed as a complex color variation. In addition, the degree of distruption is dependent on the composition of the target even in the gravity regime.
Leinhardt Zoe
Stewart Sarah
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