Astronomy Assignment #8
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
Astronomy Assignment #8
, (1) CRATERING
When a meteorite hits one of the terrestrial planets it makes a crater with a diameter of
about 20 times the diameter of the impactor (the book says x10 but x20 is more typical).
Estimate the size of the impactor that made the following four craters:
(1 pt.) (a) During the Apollo program the astronauts found lots of craters about 500 meters
in diameter.
When an impactor such as a meteorite hits the surface of terrestrialplanets, they leave
excavations known as craters. The craters are in circular shape because when the meteorites
strike they tend to throw debris outwards thereby creating circular shape; this is however not the
result of the shape of the impacting meteorite. The impact caused by an impactor sends shock
waves from site of the impact excavating a hole much larger in size than the diameter of the
impactor. The result is a cavity subsequently called a crater that is 20 times bigger in diameter
than the impactor (LPI, 2019). A crater that is 500m in diameter will have been caused by an
impactor that is 20 times less in diameter as below:
=500/20 =25m in diameter.
(1 pt.) (b) Crater C.Bach on Mercury is a double ringed crater about 100 km across.
Bach crater is a double ringed impact basin in Bach quadrangle of Mercury named after this
crater. (NASA, 2019)
The diameter of the impactor would since be 100km divided by 20
100/20=5km
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
Astronomy Assignment #8
, (1) CRATERING
When a meteorite hits one of the terrestrial planets it makes a crater with a diameter of
about 20 times the diameter of the impactor (the book says x10 but x20 is more typical).
Estimate the size of the impactor that made the following four craters:
(1 pt.) (a) During the Apollo program the astronauts found lots of craters about 500 meters
in diameter.
When an impactor such as a meteorite hits the surface of terrestrialplanets, they leave
excavations known as craters. The craters are in circular shape because when the meteorites
strike they tend to throw debris outwards thereby creating circular shape; this is however not the
result of the shape of the impacting meteorite. The impact caused by an impactor sends shock
waves from site of the impact excavating a hole much larger in size than the diameter of the
impactor. The result is a cavity subsequently called a crater that is 20 times bigger in diameter
than the impactor (LPI, 2019). A crater that is 500m in diameter will have been caused by an
impactor that is 20 times less in diameter as below:
=500/20 =25m in diameter.
(1 pt.) (b) Crater C.Bach on Mercury is a double ringed crater about 100 km across.
Bach crater is a double ringed impact basin in Bach quadrangle of Mercury named after this
crater. (NASA, 2019)
The diameter of the impactor would since be 100km divided by 20
100/20=5km
