"when an object is not in a tightly bound orbit confiscation and just
gets "pushed" rather than crushed?"
That was a question out of left field!
I'm not familiar with orbit confiscations, but, if you mean that the
object is free floating far away ... That would be the case of
something distant from the Sun, at the edge of the gravitational well
if you like graphic thoughts. However, gravitational attraction at a
given distance in AU from the Sun or other main body is only a function
of the object's mass.
That said, if the impactor is playing "catch-up" to the target, of
course you will have a lower energy collision vs. the head on case:
everything is relative. In the unlikely (but possible, especially in
some special cases that could be dreamed up) case you had two objects
traveling at a tiny difference by essentially the same speed and
co-orbital, they'd probably either turn into a dumbbell shape or one
would form a captured moon-situation.
What you want to consider is the kinetic energy of the impact which is
successfully transferred/damped between the objects. The kinetic
energy will be proportional to mv^2 and will give you, in terms of
physics, the "work" done ... i.e., a transfer of energy from one to the
other; that is, how much moving and shaking and excavating and phase
changing and heating and other energy forms is done, including changes
in potential energy.
In plain English, a smack is a smack, and the first order of concern is
the relative velocity. If two objects happen to have their directions
aligned and one approaches the other rear side with a difference of 10
km/s, those damages are the same as a head on collision when the
difference is 10 km/s. It may be more likely that a rear collision
happens at a slower relative velocity but it is hard for me to think
that a 10 km/s push would be any different than a 10 km/s head on. At
a slower velocity, e.g. 1 km/s, it might very well transfer a higher
proportion of the impactor's energy into orbital speed (at half the
speed, for example, the impact would take longer and likely excavate
less - but the overall energy would be less too:
At slower relative speeds, less energy is exchanged and less damage
will be done. Same concept works for when meteorites are more easily
surviving the landing on earth.
But lots of billiard-inspired or multiball roulette:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ui0Wxoz-BQ#t=2m45s
Variations on the theme are possible and impact guys can maybe make a
living looking at these scenarios in hopes of pairing them to the real
worlds.
A glancing blow, for example will allow the impactor to possibly only
transfer part of its energy and generally go on its way with the
remainder of it. The there is the revolving about the axis of the
target which is a separate component of kinetic energy. A glancing
blow in the direction of revolution will force a bit of
refining/expanding on the timing of the transfer of energy of impact
since kinetic energy. It seems clear to me that if you could come up
with circumstances to prolong the collision time, a higher percent of
the impact energy can be used for changing spin or speed. But just
because 70% of "X" megatons goes into speeding up or slowing down or
spinning, etc., doesn't mean that for a higher energy collision that
10% of "Y" gigatons won't skunk the former. Confusing until the
initial conditions are defined ...
2c
Kindest wishes
Doug
-----Original Message-----
From: John Lutzon <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sat, Jul 23, 2011 12:41 am
Subject: [meteorite-list] Is Vesta Mong Nong?
----- Original Message ----- From: "John Lutzon" <[email protected]>
To: "Galactic Stone & Ironworks" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2011 12:28 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Is Vesta Mong Nong?
Hi Mike, List
Case in point.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap970630.html
John
----- Original Message ----- > From: "Galactic Stone & Ironworks"
<[email protected]>
To: "John Lutzon" <[email protected]>
Cc: "brian burrer" <[email protected]>; >
<[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2011 11:52 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Is Vesta Mong Nong?
Hi John and List,
John said - "So, are impact forces mitigated when an object is not
in
a tightly bound
orbit confiscation and just gets "pushed" rather than crushed?"
That is something I had never considered. Is it possible that a
body
like Vesta could "give" or "roll with the punch" and this might
mitigate the impact forces as John suggested?
Best regards,
MikeG
-- >>
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On 7/22/11, John Lutzon <[email protected]> wrote:
Hello List,
I don't know what i don't know---so:
The latest photo of Vesta shows about 1/2 of this protoplanet which
is >>> about
350 miles in diameter
and the largest crater looks approximately 1/10 0f this radius
which >>> means
the crater dia. is about 17.5 miles--quite a hit for such a little
guy.
I remember seeing a photo of a much smaller asteroid with an
impact >>> crater
of
about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the whole thing and wonder why it
wasn't
cracked in half or completely obliterated.
So, are impact forces mitigated when an object is not in a tightly
bound
orbit confiscation and just gets "pushed" rather than crushed?
John
----- Original Message -----
From: "brian burrer" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2011 10:57 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Is Vesta Mong Nong?
The new photo of Vesta resembles a giant Mong Nong tektite- I did
not
expect to see so many layers.
Happy hunting,
Brian
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