Space
How a Massive Impact Created Vesta's Unusual Belt
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Nov 04, 2014 08:27 AM EST
Scientists may have found out how Vesta became shaped like it is. Using computer models to simulate collisions on Vesta, scientists have found out how Vesta may have gotten the deep grooves that encircle its midsection.
Vesta is the second-largest object in the asteroid belt. When NASA's Dawn spacecraft visited this object in 2011, it found deep grooves that encircle Vesta's equator like a cosmic belt.
"Vesta got hammered," said Peter Schultz, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The whole interior was reverberating, and what we see on the surface is the manifestation of what happened in the interior."
In order to see exactly how an impactor might cause damage to Vest, the researchers used the Ames Vertical Gun Range, a cannon with a 14-foot barrel used to simulate collisions on celestial bodies. The gun used gunpowder and compressed hydrogen gas to launch projectiles up to 16,000 mph. In this case, the scientists found that the damage from the impact stars at the impact point, but shortly after failure patterns begin to form inside the sphere. After watching this physical experiment, the scientists used models to scale up the lab collision.
The computer models suggest that the Rheasilvia basin on Vesta's south pole was created by an impactor that came at an angle, rather than straight on. This glancing blow did an extreme amount of damage. Seconds after the collision, rocks deep inside the asteroid began to crack and crumble under the stress. Within two minutes, major faults reached near the surface, forming the deep canyons seen today near Vesta's equator.
The findings answer some questions about Vesta's belt that have long been puzzling, such as the orientation of the belt with respect to the crater. It's likely due to the angle of the impact.
"Vesta was lucky," said Schultz. "If this collision had been straight on, there would have been one less large asteroid and only a family of fragments left behind."
The findings are published in the journal Icarus.
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First Posted: Nov 04, 2014 08:27 AM EST
Scientists may have found out how Vesta became shaped like it is. Using computer models to simulate collisions on Vesta, scientists have found out how Vesta may have gotten the deep grooves that encircle its midsection.
Vesta is the second-largest object in the asteroid belt. When NASA's Dawn spacecraft visited this object in 2011, it found deep grooves that encircle Vesta's equator like a cosmic belt.
"Vesta got hammered," said Peter Schultz, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The whole interior was reverberating, and what we see on the surface is the manifestation of what happened in the interior."
In order to see exactly how an impactor might cause damage to Vest, the researchers used the Ames Vertical Gun Range, a cannon with a 14-foot barrel used to simulate collisions on celestial bodies. The gun used gunpowder and compressed hydrogen gas to launch projectiles up to 16,000 mph. In this case, the scientists found that the damage from the impact stars at the impact point, but shortly after failure patterns begin to form inside the sphere. After watching this physical experiment, the scientists used models to scale up the lab collision.
The computer models suggest that the Rheasilvia basin on Vesta's south pole was created by an impactor that came at an angle, rather than straight on. This glancing blow did an extreme amount of damage. Seconds after the collision, rocks deep inside the asteroid began to crack and crumble under the stress. Within two minutes, major faults reached near the surface, forming the deep canyons seen today near Vesta's equator.
The findings answer some questions about Vesta's belt that have long been puzzling, such as the orientation of the belt with respect to the crater. It's likely due to the angle of the impact.
"Vesta was lucky," said Schultz. "If this collision had been straight on, there would have been one less large asteroid and only a family of fragments left behind."
The findings are published in the journal Icarus.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone