3 ms·
From fig. 1 on the second page of pdf linked by spenrose below, it looks like vapor cloud was more doughnut/torus-shaped than spherical (due to rotation) and la
by gmazza 10y ago
From fig. 1 on the second page of pdf linked by spenrose below, it looks like vapor cloud was more doughnut/torus-shaped than spherical (due to rotation) and lasted few tens of years.
- azernik 10y agoThat is shockingly fast.
- Retra 10y agoWell, that's a comparatively small volume it covered in the grand scheme of things. Just think how quickly a bunch of hair and dust will clump together in the corner of an unswept room.
- T0T0R0 10y agoWhile the distribution of mass might quickly redistribute itself into a toroidal formation, internally, I think that area of effect (the fuzzy red zone in the diagram) would probably be pretty opaque to visible light. For a period of time, a gas cloud like that would probably have a really interesting appearance. I'm imagining that, as the hot gases cool off, and condense onto floating debris, the molten/solid debris field will probably look pretty nebulous, and then settle into unstable bands. At that point, I figure the torus shape would be very apparent. Once the hot gases were gone, I bet it probably took a while for the rest of the debris to get swept up into decaying orbits, and impact on either body (earth/moon). If they could visualize it with a simulation, it'd probably be fun to watch, and tweak the parameters of the event.