The ways in which catastrophic collisional events have influenced several important properties of asteroids, such as their structure, rotation, shape, and family membership, are examined. The collisional outcomes and the projectile-to-target mass ratio are evaluated for various cases, and the different diameter ranges where the previous collisional outcomes can be preferentially found are assessed. These calculations are then compared to observational evidence. It is shown that the ultimate outcomes of the collisional evolution are strongly dependent on the asteroid size, because of the different importance of self-gravitational forces, and of the different probability of impacts with high projectile-to-target mass ratio.
Asteroid collisional evolution - Outcomes of catastrophic impacts
PAOLICCHI, PAOLO;
1982-01-01
Abstract
The ways in which catastrophic collisional events have influenced several important properties of asteroids, such as their structure, rotation, shape, and family membership, are examined. The collisional outcomes and the projectile-to-target mass ratio are evaluated for various cases, and the different diameter ranges where the previous collisional outcomes can be preferentially found are assessed. These calculations are then compared to observational evidence. It is shown that the ultimate outcomes of the collisional evolution are strongly dependent on the asteroid size, because of the different importance of self-gravitational forces, and of the different probability of impacts with high projectile-to-target mass ratio.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
