Ejecta Transfer in the Pluto System
arXiv:1403.4873 · doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2014.03.031
Abstract
The small satellites of the Pluto system (Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra) have very low surface escape velocities, and impacts should therefore eject a large amount of material from their surfaces. We show that most of this material then escapes from the Pluto system, though a significant fraction collects on the surfaces of Pluto and Charon. The velocity at which the dust is ejected from the surfaces of the small satellites strongly determines which object it is likely to hit, and where on the surfaces of Pluto and Charon it is most likely to impact. We also show that the presence of an atmosphere around Pluto eliminates most particle size effects and increases the number of dust impacts on Pluto. In total, Pluto and Charon may have accumulated several centimeters of small-satellite dust on their surfaces, which could be observed by the New Horizons spacecraft.
28 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Icarus
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Cited by in corpus (7)
- The Small Satellites of Pluto as Observed by New Horizons
- The orbital evolution of asteroids, pebbles and planets from giant branch stellar radiation and winds
- Pluto's Haze as a Surface Material
- Formation of Charon's Red Poles From Seasonally Cold-Trapped Volatiles
- Hydrocode modeling of the spallation process during hypervelocity impacts: Implications for the ejection of Martian meteorites
- The New Horizons and Hubble Space Telescope Search For Rings, Dust, and Debris in the Pluto-Charon System
- A Pluto-Charon Sonata: The Dynamical Architecture of the Circumbinary Satellite System