English

Ultra Low Velocity Ejecta Generated by Slow Impacts on Rubble Pile Asteroids

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics 2024-12-16 v1 Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Materials Science

Abstract

We examine ejecta generated by ultra low velocity impacts under asteroid conditions. In an environment of precisely controlled milligravity and under vacuum, impacts with velocities in the range of centimeters/second are performed with irregularly shaped impactors onto granular beds. The resulting ejecta velocities are compared to existing literature values and extend the observed systematic trends towards lower impact energies, broadening the parameter range. Simulations are performed to reason the systematics and the absence thereof for measurements performed at earth gravity. We find, that the cutoff induced by gravity dependent minimal observable velocities plays a crucial role in the values obtained for mean ejecta velocities.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2412.10140,
  title  = {Ultra Low Velocity Ejecta Generated by Slow Impacts on Rubble Pile Asteroids},
  author = {Kolja Joeris and Laurent Schönau and Matthias Keulen and Jonathan E. Kollmer},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.10140},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

Submitted to NPJ Microgravity

R2 v1 2026-06-28T20:34:08.237Z