3 ms·

Isn't the obvious answer that it was actually 2 objects very close together? Or would we expect them to have drifted far enough apart by the time they hit the

Isn't the obvious answer that it was actually 2 objects very close together? Or would we expect them to have drifted far enough apart by the time they hit the moon that the craters would not be so close?

simonh 4y ago
It's highly unlikely they would remain that close unless they split apart very soon before impact. Solar radiation exerts a small force on any object in space that depends on the object's orientation, reflectivity, rotation, etc. This introduces a small variation in it's flight path that can add up to several kilometres of uncertainty in just a few weeks. So even objects with very close flight paths, but differences in structure and rotation, will diverge. Objects with low mass to surface area and an elongated shape, such as empty fuel tanks, are subject to particularly high uncertainty in their trajectory.
- tuco86 4y ago
  I think maybe some entangled cable. even very little rotation would keep them at a fixed distance.
  - simonh 4y ago
    Interesting, that could work.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- outworlder 4y ago
  Even without any solar radiation, if they are far apart they are in ever so slightly different orbits. They will drift given enough time.
compiler-guy 4y ago
To this layman who knows very little about orbits and impact craters, that explanation makes a lot of sense. But the professional software engineer in me knows that even people well skilled in adjacent fields dont understand the issues that makes things “obvious” in my own field. I therefore don’t doubt that the experts who study space debris considered the obvious explanation and rejected it. Or concluded that it wasn’t as obvious as it may seem. That they are willing to defer to the crater-formation expert shows an admirable humility and deference to someone who is far more likely to know.

3 ms·

Isn't the obvious answer that it was actually 2 objects very close together? Or would we expect them to have drifted far enough apart by the time they hit the

by jstanley 4y ago

simonh 4y ago
It's highly unlikely they would remain that close unless they split apart very soon before impact. Solar radiation exerts a small force on any object in space that depends on the object's orientation, reflectivity, rotation, etc. This introduces a small variation in it's flight path that can add up to several kilometres of uncertainty in just a few weeks. So even objects with very close flight paths, but differences in structure and rotation, will diverge. Objects with low mass to surface area and an elongated shape, such as empty fuel tanks, are subject to particularly high uncertainty in their trajectory.
- tuco86 4y ago
  I think maybe some entangled cable. even very little rotation would keep them at a fixed distance.
  - simonh 4y ago
    Interesting, that could work.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- outworlder 4y ago
  Even without any solar radiation, if they are far apart they are in ever so slightly different orbits. They will drift given enough time.
compiler-guy 4y ago
To this layman who knows very little about orbits and impact craters, that explanation makes a lot of sense. But the professional software engineer in me knows that even people well skilled in adjacent fields dont understand the issues that makes things “obvious” in my own field. I therefore don’t doubt that the experts who study space debris considered the obvious explanation and rejected it. Or concluded that it wasn’t as obvious as it may seem. That they are willing to defer to the crater-formation expert shows an admirable humility and deference to someone who is far more likely to know.