2001-2002 Colloquium Series

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NAU Liberal Arts (Bldg 18, Rm 135), Thursday, 4 April 2002, 4:00 PM
(Refreshments at 3:45 PM)

CATASTROPHIC COLLISIONS: THE FORMATION OF ASTEROID FAMILIES

Eileen V. Ryan , New Mexico Highlands University.

Abstract

Asteroid families are groups of dynamically linked objects thought to have originated from a collisional event. Understanding the collisional physics of the origin of these families has required several approaches. Numerical simulations of the collisional disruption of large bodies can be used to uncover the basic principles governing asteroid impacts. Laboratory impact experiment data are then used to test the predictions of code simulations at small sizes. At large size scales, it is the impact-altered asteroids themselves, through telescope observations, which can provide us with the post-fragmentation data necessary to verify theoretical models. This interplay between theory and observation has the potential to yield significant insights.
 

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