Impact and cratering rates onto Pluto

Greenstreet, Sarah; Gladman, Brett; McKinnon, William B.

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.05.026

Cited by 80 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…These results agree fairly well with those of Bierhaus & Dones (2015) and Greenstreet et al (2015). However, the differences between our work and theirs might arise from the difference in process used by these authors to evaluate the size distribution of the population.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Thus, to obtain p < 1 we change to a double power-law mean-size distribution with q A = 3.5 for the small size end of the population and break radius at r b = 11.8606 km or r b = 7.2538 km for mean densities ρ 1 = 1.85 g cm −3 and ρ 2 = 1 g cm −3 , respectively. With this mean-size population we calculate the cratering rate on Pluto for projectiles of different sizes and obtain results in agreement with Bierhaus & Dones (2015) and Greenstreet et al (2015). With these results we search for the projectile which produces the largest structure observed on Pluto (a crater with size ∼250 km) and we find that an object with radius of ∼29 km produces a crater with that diameter in 8 × 10 10 yr, indicating that these kinds of large structures have a low probability of occurrence on Pluto within the solar system age.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…Bierhaus & Dones (2015) found that the cratering rates for Pluto are 6.7 × 10 −9 yr −1 and 4.6 × 10 −7 yr −1 , considering projectiles with radius larger than 5 km and 0.5 km, respectively. Finally, Greenstreet et al (2015) modeled the size distribution for the impactor population using different power-laws and found a cratering rate on Pluto in the range 5 × 10 −7 to 9 × 10 −8 yr −1 for projectiles with radius larger than 5 km.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cratering rate on Pluto produced by the inner trans-Neptunian population

Calandra¹,

Gil-Hutton

2017

A&A

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Aims. The aim of this work is to obtain the cratering rate on Pluto and to estimate the size distribution of the population in the inner trans-Neptunian region. Methods. We find the intrinsic collisional probability and the mean collision velocity for the interaction between Pluto and the projectile population crossing its orbit, using the L7 Synthetic Model from the CFEPS Project. The size distribution of this population is found using the smallest satellite of Pluto, Styx, as a constraint, because it survives the collisional process for the solar system age. Results. We find that the mean intrinsic collisional probability and mean collision velocity between Pluto and the projectile population are P i = 1.3098 × 10 −22 km −2 yr −1 and V col = 2.005 ± 0.822 km s −1 . If the projectile sample is separated between Plutinos and non-Plutinos and the intrinsic collisional probability of these sub-populations are taken into account, we find a ratio of approximately 20:1 in favor of non-Plutinos resulting in the greatest contribution to the cratering rate on Pluto. The projectile population for the inner trans-Neptunian belt is characterized using a double power-law mean-size distribution with exponents q A = 3.5 and q B = 5.14 for the small and large size end of the population, respectively, and break radius at r b = 11.86 km or 7.25 km for mean densities of the projectiles ρ 1 = 1.85 g cm −3 and ρ 2 = 1 g cm −3 . With this mean-size distribution we find that an object with radius of ∼28 km produces a crater in Pluto with a diameter of ∼250 km in a time larger than the solar system age, indicating that this kind of large structure has a very low probability of occurrence.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cratering rate on Pluto produced by the inner trans-Neptunian population

Calandra¹,

Gil-Hutton

2017

A&A

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“…We argue that the observations of the crater size distributions in the Pluto system by the New Horizons mission provides one of the best available constraints. The cratering of Pluto and Charon is dominated by the hot population (Greenstreet et al 2015). All models agree that the hot population and the Scattered Disk population are the same population in terms of physical properties and origin.…”

Section: Dynamical Modelmentioning

confidence: 57%

How primordial is the structure of comet 67P?

Jutzi

Benz

Τόλιου

et al. 2016

A&A

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Context. There is an active debate about whether the properties of comets as observed today are primordial or, alternatively, if they are a result of collisional evolution or other processes. Aims. We investigate the effects of collisions on a comet with a structure like 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P). We develop scaling laws for the critical specific impact energies Q reshape required for a significant shape alteration. These are then used in simulations of the combined dynamical and collisional evolution of comets in order to study the survival probability of a primordially formed object with a shape like 67P. Although the focus of this work is on a structure of this kind, the analysis is also performed for more generic bi-lobe shapes, for which we define the critical specific energy Q bil . The simulation outcomes are also analyzed in terms of impact heating and the evolution of the porosity. Methods. The effects of impacts on comet 67P are studied using a state-of-the-art smooth particle hydrodynamics shock physics code. In the 3D simulations, a publicly available shape model of 67P is applied and a range of impact conditions and material properties are investigated. The resulting critical specific impact energy Q reshape (as well as Q bil for generic bi-lobe shapes) defines a minimal projectile size which is used to compute the number of shape-changing collisions in a set of dynamical simulations. These simulations follow the dispersion of the trans-Neptunian disk during the giant planet instability, the formation of a scattered disk, and produce 87 objects that penetrate into the inner solar system with orbits consistent with the observed JFC population. The collisional evolution before the giant planet instability is not considered here. Hence, our study is conservative in its estimation of the number of collisions. Results. We find that in any scenario considered here, comet 67P would have experienced a significant number of shape-changing collisions, if it formed primordially. This is also the case for generic bi-lobe shapes. Our study also shows that impact heating is very localized and that collisionally processed bodies can still have a high porosity. Conclusions. Our study indicates that the observed bi-lobe structure of comet 67P may not be primordial, but might have originated in a rather recent event, possibly within the last 1 Gy. This may be the case for any kilometer-sized two-component cometary nuclei.

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“…Even after consideration of geological factors, these observations are suggestive of substantially lower densities of small KBOs than the maximum permitted by the upper limits established by previous occultation surveys (Singer et al, 2016). This low cratering rate may therefore suggest a potential unreliability in the Schlichting et al detections (Greenstreet et al, 2015).…”

Section: Previous Surveysmentioning

confidence: 94%

Pipeline for the Detection of Serendipitous Stellar Occultations by Kuiper Belt Objects with the Colibri Fast-photometry Array

Pass

Metchev

Brown

et al. 2017

PASP

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We report results from the preliminary trials of Colibri, a dedicated fast-photometry array for the detection of small Kuiper belt objects through serendipitous stellar occultations. Colibri's novel data processing pipeline analyzed 4000 star hours with two overlapping-field EMCCD cameras, detecting no Kuiper belt objects and one false positive occultation event in a high ecliptic latitude field. No occultations would be expected at these latitudes, allowing these results to provide a control sample for the upcoming main Colibri campaign. The empirical false positive rate found by the processing pipeline is consistent with the 0.002% simulationdetermined false positive rate. We also describe Colibri's software design, kernel sets for modeling stellar occultations, and method for retrieving occultation parameters from noisy diffraction curves. Colibri's main campaign will begin in mid-2018, operating at a 40 Hz sampling rate.

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Impact and cratering rates onto Pluto

Cited by 80 publications

References 72 publications

Cratering rate on Pluto produced by the inner trans-Neptunian population

Cratering rate on Pluto produced by the inner trans-Neptunian population

How primordial is the structure of comet 67P?

Pipeline for the Detection of Serendipitous Stellar Occultations by Kuiper Belt Objects with the Colibri Fast-photometry Array

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