Astronomers establish the strength of high-inclination asteroids
Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - 09:30
in Astronomy & Space
Astronomers have been observing faint asteroids with highly inclined orbits. They found that a smaller fraction of tiny bodies occur among high-inclination asteroids than those near the ecliptic plane. This means that large asteroids in high-velocity collisions between asteroids probably have a greater increase of strength in resisting disruption than those in the present mean-velocity collisions. Clarification of the relationship between collisional velocity and asteroids' disruptive strength is helpful in understanding the collisional evolution of asteroids in the early Solar System.