Simulations show Mercury may have been victim of hit-and-run collision
Monday, July 7, 2014 - 10:00
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) —A pair of researchers with Arizona State University has created computer simulations that show that Mercury may have a relatively large metal core because it was the victim of a hit-and-run collision with another proto-planet—a collision that resulted in much of its non-metallic mantle being stripped away by the larger body. In their paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, Erik Asphaug and Andreas Reufer describe how they ran many computer simulations designed to better understand planet formation in our solar system, and found that under just the right circumstances, a glancing blow collision between proto-Mercury and another proto-planet could have resulted in the current makeup of Mercury.