Impact – Astronomy Now

Shattering an in-bound asteroid may be tougher than thought

4 March 2019 Astronomy Now

A new computer model indicates it may be tougher to break up a large asteroid on a collision course with Earth than previously believed.

Mars moons likely formed from more modest impact

19 April 2018 Astronomy Now

Sophisticated computer modeling indicates Mars’ two small moons likely formed as the result of a relatively modest-size impactor, not a much larger body as previously theorized.

Mystery solved: Martian moons formed by a giant impact

5 July 2016 Astronomy Now

Where did the two natural satellites of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, come from? For a long time, their shape suggested that they were captured asteroids. However, the shape and course of their orbits contradict this hypothesis. Two independent and complementary studies now provide an answer: these satellites formed from the debris of a gigantic collision between Mars and a protoplanet one-third its size.

Clues to ancient 15-mile-wide asteroid impact found in Western Australia

18 May 2016 Astronomy Now

An international team of scientists has found evidence of a major asteroid impact that occurred approximately 3.5 billion years ago. Tiny glass beads called spherules formed from vaporised material from the asteroid impact were found in a drill core from Australia in some of the oldest known sediments on Earth.

Amateur astronomers video impact on Jupiter

30 March 2016 Ade Ashford

Unbeknown to two European amateur astronomers 1000 miles apart capturing video of Jupiter through their telescopes in the early hours of Thursday, 17 March, their digital footage would subsequently show confirmation of a totally unexpected phenomenon — the likely impact of a small comet or asteroid on the edge of the solar system’s largest planet.

Moon probe’s impact crater found

30 October 2014 Astronomy Now

NASA’S Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has spied a new crater on the lunar surface; one made from the impact of NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission.