Exploring how our solar system came to be

01 · Current Work

Primitive planetesimals in the dusty solar nebula were composed of rock and volatile ice mixtures. Collisions between such bodies can vaporize volatiles while only slightly warming rock. The supersonic expansion of the resulting impact vapor plume can shock nebular dust into chondrules, and the collapse of the plume collects a size-sorted, chondritic mixture. Accurate physical and chemical modeling of these interactions may provide crucial links between the meteoritic record and planet formation.

02 · Published

Combining LIPAD simulations of giant planet core accretion with iSALE simulations of planetesimal collisions, we find that impact jetting can produce chondrules to distances of ~15 AU from the Sun. Our results suggest Jupiter's core may have formed after most chondrules, 3–4 Myr after CAIs.

03 · Published

Using analytical and numerical finite element models, we quantify the deformation that occurs as an ice wedge grows incrementally within Europa's ice shell. Incremental growth of the ice wedge produces surface deformation matching the size and shape of typical Europan double ridges, including topographic relief and surrounding troughs.

04 · Published

Impact jetting during planetesimal collisions ejects small amounts of highly shocked material during the earliest stages of an impact. We use the iSALE shock physics code to investigate the viability of jetting for producing chondrules in the outer solar system, where ice-rich bodies begin to be incorporated into the planetesimal population.