Crater-ray formation through mutual collisions of hypervelocity-impact induced ejecta particles

TL;DR

This study examines crater-ray patterns formed by hypervelocity impacts, revealing that the pattern angle is independent of impact velocity, particle size, and shape, and is governed by particle collision dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a new analysis linking pattern angles to particle collision velocities and confirms this relation through experiments and simulations, extending understanding of crater-ray formation.

Findings

Pattern angle is consistent across impact velocities.

Pattern structure is unaffected by particle size and shape.

Pattern formation is governed by collision dynamics, not elastic properties.

Abstract

We investigate the patterns observed in ejecta curtain induced by hypervelocity impact (2-6 km/s) with a variety of the size and shape of target particles. We characterize the patterns by an angle, defined as the ratio of the characteristic length of the pattern obtained by Fourier transformation to the distance from the impact point. This angle is found to be almost the same as that obtained by the reanalysis of the patterns in the previous study at lower impact velocities (Kadono et al., 2015, Icarus 250, 215-221), which are consistent with lunar crater-ray systems. Assuming that the pattern is formed by mutual collision of particles with fluctuation velocity in excavation flow, we evaluate an angle at which the pattern growth stops and show that this angle is the same in the order of magnitude as the ratio of the fluctuation velocity and the radial velocity. This relation is confirmed in the results of experiments and numerical simulations. Finally, we discuss the dependence of the patterns on impact conditions. The experiments show no dependence of the angle on impact velocity. This indicates that the ratio between the fluctuation and radial velocity components in excavation flow does not depend on impact velocity. Moreover, the independences on particle size and particle shape suggest that the angle characterizing the structure of the patterns does not depend on cohesive force. Since cohesive forces should be related with elastic properties of particles, the structure does not depend on elastic properties, though inelastic collisions are important for the persistence and contrast of the patterns.