Related papers: "Isocrater" impacts: Conditions and mantle dynamic…
We consider the origin of compact, short-period, Jupiter-mass planets. We propose that their diverse structure is caused by giant impacts of embryos and super-Earths or mergers with other gas giants during the formation and evolution of…
Meteorite craters on the asteroid surface obstruct the horizontal flow of solar wind, forming a plasma wake that modulates the particle fluxes and the electrostatic environment far downstream. In this study, surface charging properties of…
Subsequent to the Moon's formation, late accretion to the terrestrial planets modified their silicate crusts and mantles. We combine dynamical N-body and Monte Carlo simulations to determine impact probabilities, impact velocities, and…
Intense bombardment of solar system planets in the immediate aftermath of protoplanetary disk dissipation has played a key role in their atmospheric evolution. During this epoch, energetic collisions will have removed significant masses of…
In the crater function approach to the erosion of a solid surface by a broad ion beam, the average crater produced by the impact of an ion is used to compute the constant coefficients in the continuum equation of motion for the surface. We…
As the only icy satellite with a thick atmosphere and liquids on its surface, Titan represents a unique end-member to study the impact cratering process. Unlike craters on other Saturnian satellites, Titan's craters are preferentially…
Giant impacts dominate the final stages of terrestrial planet formation and set the configuration and compositions of the final system of planets. A giant impact is believed to be responsible for the formation of Earth's Moon, but the…
Dynamical models of planet formation coupled with cosmochemical data from martian meteorites show that Mars' isotopic composition is distinct from that of Earth. Reconciliation of formation models with meteorite data require that Mars grew…
We quantify the atmospheric mass loss during planet formation by examining the contributions to atmospheric loss from both giant impacts and planetesimal accretion. Giant impacts cause global motion of the ground. Using analytic…
From small seeds falling from trees to asteroids colliding with planets and moons, the impact of projectiles onto granular targets occurs in nature at different scales. In this paper, we investigate open questions in the mechanics of…
Planet perturbations are often invoked as a potential explanation for many spatial structures that have been imaged in debris discs. So far this issue has been mostly investigated with collisionless N-body numerical models. We numerically…
The dynamical interaction of minor bodies (such as comets or asteroids) with planets plays an essential role in the planetary system's architecture and evolution. As a result of these interactions, structures like the Kuiper belt and the…
According to Shoemaker, the "impact of solid bodies is the most fundamental process that has taken place on the terrestrial planets", as they shape the surfaces of all solar system bodies. A lot of information on this process has been…
It is known that most of the craters on the surface of the Moon were created by the collision of minor bodies of the Solar System. Main Belt Asteroids, which can approach the terrestrial planets as a consequence of different types of…
Impact cratering plays a crucial role in shaping the surfaces of small bodies, satellites, and planets, providing insights into their formation and the history of the Solar System. Small bodies are often covered with low-cohesion regolith.…
Exoplanetary systems host giant planets on substantially non-circular, close-in orbits. We propose that these eccentricities arise in a phase of giant impacts, analogous to the final stage of Solar System assembly that formed Earth's Moon.…
The giant impact phase of terrestrial planet formation establishes connections between super-Earths' orbital properties (semimajor axis spacings, eccentricities, mutual inclinations) and interior compositions (the presence or absence of…
In the nucleated instability picture of gas giant formation, the final stage is the rapid accretion of a massive gas envelope by a solid core, bringing about a tenfold or more increase in mass. This tends to trigger the scattering of any…
The eccentric orbits of the known extrasolar giant planets provide evidence that most planet-forming environments undergo violent dynamical instabilities. Here, we numerically simulate the impact of giant planet instabilities on planetary…
In the leading theory of lunar formation, known as the giant impact hypothesis, a collision between two planet-size objects resulted in a young Earth surrounded by a circumplanetary debris disk from which the Moon later accreted. The range…