Impact Deformation of Metallic Small Bodies and Their Collisional and Dynamical Evolution

Abstract

M-class asteroids were originally considered to be metallic, but, nowadays, owing to the progress of spectroscopic studies, most of them are considered to be rocky bodies. However, at least one asteroid 16 Psyche is likely to be metallic based on the high radar albedo.There are only limited studies on collisional evolution of metallic asteroids. We therefore performed impact experiments of iron projectiles into mainly silicate powders and investigated the degree of fragmentation and deformation of the projectile due to impact. We will discuss on the collisional and dynamical evolution of metallic asteroids according to the results of the laboratory experiments.