The effect of impact obliquity on shock heating in planetesimal collisions

Collisions between planetesimals in the early solar system were a common and fundamental process. Most collisions occurred at an oblique incidence angle, yet the influence of impact angle on heating in collisions is not fully understood. We have conducted a series of shock physics simulations to quantify oblique heating processes, and find that both impact angle and target curvature are important in quantifying the amount of heating in a collision. We find an expression to estimate the heating in an oblique collision compared to that in a vertical incidence collision. We have used this expression to quantify heating in the Rhealsilvia‐forming impact on Vesta, and find that there is slightly more heating in a 45° impact than in a vertical impact. Finally, we apply these results to Monte Carlo simulations of collisional processes in the early solar system, and determine the overall effect of impact obliquity from the range of impacts that occurred on a meteorite parent body. For those bodies that survived 100 Myr without disruption, it is not necessary to account for the natural variation in impact angle, as the amount of heating was well approximated by a fixed impact angle of 45°. However, for disruptive impacts, this natural variation in impact angle should be accounted for, as around a quarter of bodies were globally heated by at least 100 K in a variable‐angle model, an order of magnitude higher than under an assumption of a fixed angle of 45°.     

The Evolution of Brightest Cluster Galaxies

In this contribution we review the properties of Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) and discuss the impact that X-ray cluster selection is having on their use as cosmological probes. BCGs form a unique galaxy population. They are located near the gravitational centre of galaxy clusters and are the most massive galaxies in the universe, being some 10 times more luminous than L* systems. Historically, BCGs have been credited with small intrinsic dispersion in their absolute magnitudes (Δ≃0.2–0.3 mag) and used as standard candles to constrain the cosmological parameters. Although indirect signs of mass accretion out to z≃1 have been observed, uncovering their full evolutionary picture has remained an elusive goal. Studies of BCGs based on serendipitiously discovered X-ray cluster samples, particularly from ROSAT, provide large numbers of unbiased clusters at z≤1. Furthermore X-ray emission guarantees the presence of a large gravitationally bound potential well and the X-ray information can be used to locate the centroids of clusters, aiding the identification of the BCG. We show that this has important consequences for studies of distance determination and large-scale streaming flows based on the optical properties of BCGs. Recent results based on X-ray selected clusters show large differences in near-IR BCG properties with their cluster environment; such that those in clusters with L _x≥1.9×10⁴⁴erg s^-1 are brighter and more uniform than those in their low-L _x counterparts. The BCGs in highL _x systems show no evidence of having undergone mass growth, whereas those in low L _x systems show a widerrange of evolution, with evidence that some have grown by a factor of 4 ormore since z≃1. These results are a direct indication of howa single homogeneous population of galaxies evolves and are a challenge to simple semi-analytical hierarchical models. If future observations at high redshift are to seriously challenge theory then better predictions of the evolutionary process are required. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: galaxy luminosity functions per spectral type

We calculate the optical b _J luminosity function (LF) of the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) for different subsets defined by their spectral properties. These spectrally selected subsets are defined using a new parameter, η , which is a linear combination of the first two projections derived from a Principal Component Analysis. This parameter η identifies the average emission- and absorption-line strength in the galaxy rest frame spectrum, and hence is a useful indicator of the present star formation. We use a total of 75 000 galaxies in our calculations, chosen from a sample of high signal-to-noise ratio, low-redshift galaxies observed before 2001 January. We find that there is a systematic steepening of the faint-end slope ( α ) as one moves from passive  ( α =-0.54)  to active  ( α =-1.50)  star-forming galaxies, and that there is also a corresponding faintening of the rest frame characteristic magnitude   M *-5 log₁₀( h )  (from −19.6 to −19.2). We also show that the Schechter function provides a poor fit to the quiescent (Type 1) LF for very faint galaxies  [ M _{b J}-5 log₁₀( h )  fainter than −16.0], perhaps suggesting the presence of a significant dwarf population. The LFs presented here give a precise confirmation of the trends seen previously in a much smaller preliminary 2dFGRS sample, and in other surveys. We also present a new procedure for determining self-consistent k -corrections, and investigate possible fibre-aperture biases.     

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: the dependence of galaxy clustering on luminosity and spectral type

We investigate the dependence of galaxy clustering on luminosity and spectral type using the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS). Spectral types are assigned using the principal-component analysis of Madgwick et al. We divide the sample into two broad spectral classes: galaxies with strong emission lines ('late types') and more quiescent galaxies ('early types'). We measure the clustering in real space, free from any distortion of the clustering pattern owing to peculiar velocities, for a series of volume-limited samples. The projected correlation functions of both spectral types are well described by a power law for transverse separations in the range  2<( σ / h ^-1 Mpc)<15  , with a marginally steeper slope for early types than late types. Both early and late types have approximately the same dependence of clustering strength on luminosity, with the clustering amplitude increasing by a factor of ∼2.5 between L * and 4 L *. At all luminosities, however, the correlation function amplitude for the early types is ∼50 per cent higher than that of the late types. These results support the view that luminosity, and not type, is the dominant factor in determining how the clustering strength of the whole galaxy population varies with luminosity.     

A theoretical framework for constructing elastic/plastic constitutive models of triaxial tests

Modern ideas of thermomechanics are used to develop families of models describing the elastic/plastic behaviour of cohesionless soils deforming under triaxial conditions. Once the form of the free energy and dissipation potential functions have been specified, the corresponding yield loci, flow rules, isotropic and kinematic hardening rules as well as the elasticity law are deduced in a systematic manner. The families contain the classical linear frictional (Coulomb type) models and the classical critical state models as special cases. The generalized models discussed here include non‐associated flow rules, shear as well as volumetric hardening, anisotropic responses and rotational yield loci. The various parameters needed to describe the models can be interpreted in terms of ratio of the plastic work, which is dissipated, to that which is stored. Non‐associated behaviour is found to occur whenever this division between dissipated and stored work is not equal. Micro‐level interpretations of stored plastic work are discussed. The models automatically satisfy the laws of thermodynamics, and there is no need to invoke any stability postulates. Some classical forms of the peak‐strength/dilatancy relationship are established theoretically. Some representative drained and undrained paths are computed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrocode modeling of the Sierra Madera impact structure

Abstract— We present the first hydrocode simulations of the formation of the Sierra Madera structure (west Texas, USA), which was caused by an impact into a thick sedimentary target sequence. We modeled Sierra Madera using the iSALE hydrocode, and here we present two best‐fit models: 1) a crater with a rim (final crater) diameter of ?12 km, in agreement with previous authors' interpretations of the original structure, and 2) a crater ?16 km in diameter with increased postimpact erosion. Both models fit some of the geologic observational data, but discrepancies with estimates of peak shock pressure, extent of deformation, and stratigraphic displacement remain. This study suggests that Sierra Madera may be a larger crater than previously reported and illustrates some of the challenges in simulating impact deformation of sedimentary lithologies. As many terrestrial craters possess some amount of sedimentary rocks in the target sequence, numerical models of impacts into sedimentary targets are essential to our understanding of target rock deformation and the mechanics of crater formation.