Related papers: Multiple Impact Origin for the Moon
Knowing the isotopic composition of Theia, the proto-planet which collided with the Earth in the Giant Impact that formed the Moon, could provide interesting insights on the state of homogenization of the inner solar system at the late…
The final sizes, composition, and angular momenta of solid planetary bodies depend on the outcomes of collisions between planetary embryos. The most common numerical method for simulating embryo collisions is to combine a gravity solver…
In this paper we present a new method for dating the surface of the Moon, obtained by modeling the incoming flux of impactors and converting it into a size distribution of resulting craters. We compare the results from this model with the…
Various theories have been proposed to explain the Moon's current inclined orbit. We test the viability of these theories by reconstructing the thermal-orbital history of the Moon. We build on past thermal-orbital models and incorporate the…
Planets and stars are expected to be compositionally linked because they accrete from the same material reservoir. However, astronomical observations revealed the existence of exoplanets whose bulk density is far higher than what is…
The formation of Uranus' regular moons has been suggested to be linked to the origin of its enormous spin axial tilt (~98^o). A giant impact between proto-Uranus and a 2-3 M_Earth impactor could lead to a large tilt and to the formation of…
The chemical compositions of Earth's core and mantle provide insight into the processes that led to their formation. N-body simulations, on the other hand, generally do not contain chemical information, and seek to only reproduce the masses…
Of the solar system's four terrestrial planets, the origin of Mercury is perhaps the most mysterious. Modern numerical simulations designed to model the dynamics of terrestrial planet formation systematically fail to replicate Mercury;…
We show that interaction with a gas disk may produce young planetary systems with closely-spaced orbits, stabilized by mean-motion resonances between neighbors. On longer timescales, after the gas is gone, interaction with a remnant…
The inner solar system's modern orbital architecture provides inferences into the epoch of terrestrial planet formation; a ~100 Myr time period of planet growth via collisions with planetesimals and other proto-planets. While classic…
Terrestrial planets grew in a series of similar-sized collisions that swept up most of the next-largest bodies. Theia was accreted by the Earth to form the Moon according to the theory. Planetesimals likewise may have finished their…
Impacts that leave the Earth-Moon system with a large excess in angular momentum have recently been advocated as a means of generating a protolunar disc with a composition that is nearly identical to that of the Earth's mantle. We here…
The leading theory for the formation of the Earth's moon invokes a collision between a Mars-sized body and the proto-Earth to produce a disk of orbiting material that later condenses to form the Moon. Here we study the early evolution of…
The search for exomoons in time-domain photometric data has to-date generally consisted of fitting transit models that are comprised of a planet hosting a single moon. This simple model has its advantages, but it may not be particularly…
The Moon holds important clues to the early evolution of the Solar System. Some 50 impact basins (crater diameter D>300 km) have been recognized on the lunar surface, implying that the early impact flux was much higher than it is now. The…
The Moon-forming giant impact significantly influenced the initial thermal state of Earth's mantle by generating a global magma ocean, marking the onset of mantle evolution. Recent Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations indicate…
The origin and evolution of Martian moons have been intensively debated in recent years. It is proposed that Phobos and Deimos may originate directly from a splitting of an ancestral moon orbiting at around the Martian synchronous orbit. At…
In this review, three major changes in our understanding of the early history of the Solar System are presented. 1) Early differentiation: A few recent results support the idea that protoplanet formation and differentiation occurred partly…
Impact flashes on the moon are caused by high-speed collisions of celestial bodies with the lunar surface. The study of the impacts is critical for exploring the evolutionary history and formation of the Moon, and for quantifying the risk…
During planet formation, a gas giant will interact with smaller protoplanets that stray within its sphere of gravitational influence. We investigate the outcome of interactions between gas giants and terrestrial-sized protoplanets with…