The Comparison of Size-Frequency Distributions of Impact Craters and Asteroids and the Planetary Cratering Rate
نویسندگان
چکیده
The well-investigated size-frequency distributions (SFD) for lunar craters can be used to estimate the SFD for projectiles that formed craters both on terrestrial planets and on asteroids. Our results suggest these distributions may have been relative stable over the past 4 G.y. The derived projectile SFD is found to have a shape that is similar to the SFD of main-belt asteroids as compared with the astronomical observations (Spacewatch asteroid data, Palomar-Leiden survey, IRAS data) and in situ images obtained by space missions. This result suggests that asteroids (or, more generally, collisionally evolved bodies) are the main component of the family of impactors striking the terrestrial planets.
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