Signatures of hit and run collisions

TL;DR

This paper explores the complex physics of planetary collisions, focusing on hit-and-run impacts during planet formation and their effects on planetesimal growth, meteorite diversity, and asteroid origins.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of hit-and-run collision signatures and their role in planetary accretion processes, highlighting the physics behind these impacts.

Findings

Hit-and-run collisions significantly influence planetesimal growth.

Inefficiencies in accretion affect meteorite and asteroid diversity.

Collision physics can explain variations in planetary formation outcomes.

Abstract

Terrestrial planets grew in a series of similar-sized collisions that swept up most of the next-largest bodies. Theia was accreted by the Earth to form the Moon according to the theory. Planetesimals likewise may have finished their accretion in a sequence of 'junior giant impacts', scaled down in size and velocity. This chapter considers the complicated physics of pairwise accretion, as planetesimals grow to planetary scales, and considers how the inefficiency of that process influences the origin of planetesimals and the diversity of meteorites and primary asteroids.