Forming Mercury by a grazing giant collision involving similar mass bodies
Fuente:
arXiv
Gespeichert in:
| Hauptverfasser: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2025
|
| Schlagworte: | |
| Online-Zugang: | |
| Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
| _version_ | 1866915182337327104 |
|---|---|
| author | Franco, Patrick Roig, Fernando Winter, Othon C. Sfair, Rafael Burger, Christoph Schäfer, Christoph M. |
| author_facet | Franco, Patrick Roig, Fernando Winter, Othon C. Sfair, Rafael Burger, Christoph Schäfer, Christoph M. |
| contents | The origin of Mercury still remains poorly understood compared to the other rocky planets of the Solar System. One of the most relevant constraints that any formation model has to fulfill refers to its internal structure, with a predominant iron core covered by a thin silicate layer. This led to the idea that it could be the product of a mantle stripping caused by a giant impact. Previous studies in this line focused on binary collisions involving bodies of very different masses. However, such collisions are actually rare in N-body simulations of terrestrial planet formation, whereas collisions involving similar mass bodies appear to be more frequent. Here, we perform smooth particle hydrodynamics simulations to investigate the conditions under which collisions of similar mass bodies are able to form a Mercury-like planet. Our results show that such collisions can fulfill the necessary constraints in terms of mass (0.055 $M_\oplus$) and composition (30/70 silicate-to-iron mass ratio) within less than 5%, as long as the impact angles and velocities are properly adjusted according to well established scaling laws. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_02826 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Forming Mercury by a grazing giant collision involving similar mass bodies Franco, Patrick Roig, Fernando Winter, Othon C. Sfair, Rafael Burger, Christoph Schäfer, Christoph M. Earth and Planetary Astrophysics The origin of Mercury still remains poorly understood compared to the other rocky planets of the Solar System. One of the most relevant constraints that any formation model has to fulfill refers to its internal structure, with a predominant iron core covered by a thin silicate layer. This led to the idea that it could be the product of a mantle stripping caused by a giant impact. Previous studies in this line focused on binary collisions involving bodies of very different masses. However, such collisions are actually rare in N-body simulations of terrestrial planet formation, whereas collisions involving similar mass bodies appear to be more frequent. Here, we perform smooth particle hydrodynamics simulations to investigate the conditions under which collisions of similar mass bodies are able to form a Mercury-like planet. Our results show that such collisions can fulfill the necessary constraints in terms of mass (0.055 $M_\oplus$) and composition (30/70 silicate-to-iron mass ratio) within less than 5%, as long as the impact angles and velocities are properly adjusted according to well established scaling laws. |
| title | Forming Mercury by a grazing giant collision involving similar mass bodies |
| topic | Earth and Planetary Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.02826 |