Moon Asteroid collision

[Moontanman]

I was thinking about what would it be like to see and what would happen if a really large body, like an mostly iron core asteroid hit the moon.

 

First if the asteroid was in the few tens of miles range would it just be a fireworks show with nothing to worry about or would it be an earth shattering event? Would the debris impact the earth I guess is the question.

 

Feel free to give your ideas but I also wonder if the debris cloud would orbit the moon like a ring or would it go immediately into orbit of the earth or impact the earth?

 

Also if a really large object hit the moon, 750 miles in diameter, mostly iron, like a tiny mercury but with a thin rock / "ice" crust several miles thick (seems reasonable to assume), and it hit the moon could the debris form a new moon that orbits the old moon? (Similar to the process that is thought to have formed earths moon.) or would the debris form in orbit around the earth as a new moon? I would have to assume in the case of the larger moon impact the Earth would be messed up pretty bad no matter what?

 

Just an idle question.... or two

[the asinine cretin]

I could share my guesses and reasoning behind them, but it would be much more awesome to get a really good physics engine and write a simulator for testing out scenarios of this kind.

[Moontanman]

I could share my guesses and reasoning behind them, but it would be much more awesome to get a really good physics engine and write a simulator for testing out scenarios of this kind.

 

 

I was going to suggest a few more accurate parameters but the site I use http://www.johnbray.org.uk/planetdesigner/ is down. i was hoping for some ball park guesses, my vague guess is the lions share of material would be transferred to Earth orbit and eventually the surface of the Earth, over time scales we would notice... probably in both scenarios

Edited May 30, 2012 by Moontanman

[the asinine cretin]

My guess is that the few mile ranged impacts would be a good show but not particularly threatening (unless large debris happened to be ejected our way). I'm pretty sure the 750 mile object would bring about doomsday. Maybe certain impact trajectories would make it less of a threat to us, but I can't imagine it being a good time for us on Earth. Maybe the Earth would get some pretty rings out of it. Always look on the bright side of life, I suppose.

[Moontanman]

I agree the big object would be dooms day but would the lions share of the debris orbit the moon or the earth? Could a moon form around our Moon?

 

 

I think the 16 kilomter object would slowly degrade the environment over time as the debris made it's way slowly to the earth, if most of the debris stayed with the moon it might just be a few decades of super meteor showers and less solar radiation but if most of it came our way then a constant rain of rocks from the sky as objects too small to make it to the earth exploded and the resulting debris was slowed down the the atmosphere and fist sized rocks rained down on average of several per square mile per day, possibly over decades? I'm not sure there'd be enough mass ejected for that level of bombardment.