Abstract Details

Name: Vishal Goyal
Affiliation: Department of Physics, Panjab University, Chandigarh
Conference ID: ASI2021_50
Title : Effects of size of sinking iron-blobs on lunar core formation
Authors and Co-Authors : Vishal Goyal* (Department of Physics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India), Sandeep Sahijpal (Department of Physics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India)
Abstract Type : Oral
Abstract Category : Sun and the Solar System
Abstract : Moon is unique among terrestrial planetary bodies. Compared to other terrestrial bodies, the Moon has a low metallic content (1-1.5%). Further, the Moon is volatile-depleted. Also, the Earth-Moon system possesses a high angular momentum. These observations contraindicate the traditional models, like cogenetic accretion, fission hypothesis, and capture hypothesis, of planetary formation for the Moon’s case. Therefore, the giant impact hypothesis is considered the most plausible hypothesis for lunar formation [see, e.g., Salmon and Canup 2014]. The giant impact hypothesis involves the collision of two proto-planetary bodies resulting in Earth with a hot debris disk. This debris disk later produced moonlets on a timescale of a few hundred years. The moonlets then accreted on each other to finally form our Moon. Based on the scenario, we had studied (Sahijpal and Goyal 2018) the early evolution of the Moon. Afterward, we recently developed a novel numerical code in Python to incorporate physicochemical processes more realistically. These improvised models include several advancements, viz. incorporating local Rayleigh numbers, radially varying Stoke’s flow, gravitational energy released, optical heat diffusion, and composition modification from modified H-chondrites to LPUM. Based on these improvised models, we will discuss the effects of the size of sinking iron-blobs on lunar core formation.