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Collisional formation of top-shaped asteroids and implications for the origins of Ryugu and Bennu.
- Source :
-
Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2020 May 27; Vol. 11 (1), pp. 2655. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 May 27. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- Asteroid shapes and hydration levels can serve as tracers of their history and origin. For instance, the asteroids (162173) Ryugu and (101955) Bennu have an oblate spheroidal shape with a pronounced equator, but contain different surface hydration levels. Here we show, through numerical simulations of large asteroid disruptions, that oblate spheroids, some of which have a pronounced equator defining a spinning top shape, can form directly through gravitational reaccumulation. We further show that rubble piles formed in a single disruption can have similar porosities but variable degrees of hydration. The direct formation of top shapes from single disruption alone can explain the relatively old crater-retention ages of the equatorial features of Ryugu and Bennu. Two separate parent-body disruptions are not necessarily required to explain their different hydration levels.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2041-1723
- Volume :
- 11
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Nature communications
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 32461569
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16433-z