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Tidal disruption of inviscid planetesimalsIn view of previous efforts' demonstration that strongly dissipative planetesimals are immune to tidal disruption, an examination is presently conducted of the complementary case of inviscid planetesimals arising from collisions that are sufficiently energetic to entirely melt the resulting planetesimal and debris. The tidal disruption is numerically simulated by means of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code of Cameron and Benz (1991), concentrating on the tidal disruption of 0.01 earth-mass planetesimals passing by the earth with variations in the impact parameter at perigee and velocity at infinity. The SPH models show that tidal forces during a close encounter can efficiently convert orbital angular momentum into spin angular momentum, thereby initiating equatorial mass-shedding to inviscid planetesimals that have been spun up beyond the limit of rotational stability.
Document ID
19910060226
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Boss, A. P.
(Carnegie Institution of Washington Washington, DC, United States)
Cameron, A. G. W.
(Carnegie Institution of Washington Washington, DC, United States)
Benz, W.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
July 1, 1991
Publication Information
Publication: Icarus
Volume: 92
ISSN: 0019-1035
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
91A44849
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-1410
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-1598
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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