How a giant impact formed asteroid Vesta's 'belt'
Tuesday, November 4, 2014 - 04:00
in Astronomy & Space
Collisions of heavenly bodies generate almost unimaginable levels of energy. Researchers used NASA's ultra-high-speed cannon and computer models to simulate such a collision on Vesta, the second-largest object in the asteroid belt. Their analysis of the images -- taken at a million frames per second -- shows how Vesta may have gotten the deep grooves that encircle its midsection.