Fragmentation of asteroids and delivery of fragments to earth.
Abstract
The investigation is concerned with a particular group of meteorites, the irons, the long exposure ages of which strongly suggest an asteroidal origin. The effects of close planetary encounters and the long-term 'secular' perturbations are both taken into account in a study of the orbital evolution of collision fragments derived from asteroidal bodies with semimajor axes in the range from 2.1 to 2.6 AU. Monte Carlo computer calculations showed that earth impact is most likely to occur between 100 m.y. and 1000 m.y. after the asteroidal collision which produced the fragment.
- Publication:
-
IAU Colloq. 39: Comets, Asteroids, Meteorites: Interrelations, Evolution and Origins
- Pub Date:
- 1977
- Bibcode:
- 1977cami.coll..283W
- Keywords:
-
- Asteroids;
- Fragmentation;
- Iron Meteorites;
- Orbit Perturbation;
- Comets;
- Meteorite Collisions;
- Monte Carlo Method;
- Solar System;
- Vesta Asteroid;
- Lunar and Planetary Exploration;
- Minor Planets:Fragmentation