[Baps] Giant Impacts talk, Sarah Stewart, Wed Feb 15 noon

[Sarah Stewart-Mukhopadhyay]

Harvard EPS Seminar

Giant Impacts: The violent crossroads between planet formation and evolution

Sarah T. Stewart

Harvard University

12:00 PM on Wednesday February 15

Faculty lounge, 4th floor Hoffman Lab, 20 Oxford St.


Abstract
During the end stage of accretion, giant impacts leave an indelible mark on
the final physical and dynamical properties of a terrestrial planet. The
terminal giant impact is invoked to explain the large core of Mercury, the
retrograde spin of Venus, the crustal thickness asymmetries on the Moon and
Mars, and the origin of the moons around Earth and Pluto. The diversity of
features arises from the large range of impact outcomes encountered during
the end stage of planet formation. Using recent results on the dynamics and
thermodynamics of giant impacts, I will describe their cumulative effects
on the physical properties of the final planets.
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