giant impact debris tagged posts

The case of the Missing Mantle: How impact debris may have disappeared from the solar system

Debris from planet-forming collisions can range from solid materials to gases. The work from Gabriel & Allen-Sutter (2021) suggests large collisions form predominantly gas, leaving behind little trace in the current solar system. Illustration credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In the early solar system, terrestrial planets like Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are thought to have formed from planetesimals, small early planets. These early planets grew over time, through collisions and mergers, to make them the size they are today.

The material released from these violent collisions is commonly thought to have escaped and orbited around the sun, bombarding the growing planets and altering the composition of the asteroid belt...

Read More