Global Surface Modification of Asteroid 4 Vesta Following the Rheasilvia Impact

4 Vesta, the second most massive asteroid in the Solar System, was the recent target of NASA’s Dawn mission, which spent many months orbiting and analyzing the body. A geologically young (~1 Ga) giant impact basin, Rheasilvia, which has a diameter nearly equal to that of Vesta, dominates Vesta’s southern hemisphere. In addition to opening a massive crater, the impact that formed the Rheasilvia basin produced a shockwave that was sufficiently strong to modify Vesta’s surface morphology on a nearly global scale.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

Year

2015

Author dc:creator

• Bowling, Timothy Joseph

Contributors dc:contributor

• Henry J Melosh
• Andrew Freed
• David Minton
• Marc Caffee
• James Richardson

• Asteroid
• Crater
• Impact
• Meteorite
• Shock
• Vesta

Repository record dc:identifier

https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/1492

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:docs.lib.purdue.edu:open_access_dissertations-2708