A Paper authored by Prof. Kathleen Howell, Prof. Jay Melosh, Loic Chappaz, and Mar Vaquero highlighted on the cover of the October issue of Astrobiology.
| Event Date: | October 31, 2013 |
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A Paper "Transfer of Ejecta Material from the Surface of Mars to Phobos and Deimos" by Prof. Kathleen Howell, Prof. Jay Melosh, Loic Chappaz, and Mar Vaquero is highlighted on the cover of the October issue of Astrobiology.
The paper Chappaz et al. (p 963) analyzes the possibility that samples from Phobos and Deimos may contain material ejected from the surface of Mars by large impacts.
The cover image illustrates computed trajectories of ejecta from an impact on Mars that could transport material from the surface of Mars to its moons.
The impact occurred at (0°, 0°), and the trajectories shown in red and blue represent two sample curtains of ejecta for particles launched at 3.8 and 4.2 km/s, respectively. The inner and outer gold circles represent Phobos' and Deimos' orbit, respectively.
The sizes of the two spheres that represent the moons are exaggerated a hundred times. Image credit: L. Chappaz.