Catastrophic disruption of layered ice-silicate bodies

• Main Author: Lightwing, Andrew
• Published: University of Kent 2011
• Subjects: 523.492
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.589961

Large icy Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) such as Pluto have observed densities on the order of 1.8 - 2.0 g cm-3. This indicates that they are made up of some combination of ice and silicate material; their size further implies that they will possess a differentiated structure with ice dominating towards the surface and silicate material dominating towards the core. A series of impact experiments using the University of Kent's light gas gun have been carried out in order to determine the impact strength of spherical layered ice-silicate targets that reflect the suspected structure of these bodies. Impacts are also carried out on unlayered ice-silicate targets and pure ice targets for the purposes of comparison. Impact velocities ranged from 1 to 7 km S-1 using a range of projectile sizes and materials including stainless steel, titanium, aluminium and copper. Data from previous work undertaken at the University of Kent is incorporated in order to provide a more complete picture of target behaviour.