Far out cosmology: the late heavy bombardment (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, December 10, 2024, 17:05 (11 days ago) @ David Turell

Shown on moon and Mercury:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQXKhDwlBzZRkPGmjcBlljKJwxF

"Consider for a moment our friends around us in the inner solar system. I don’t mean friends on Earth, but the pristine surfaces from long ago on planetary bodies. We know that many surfaces in our region of the solar system have resurfacing mechanisms like erosion, tectonic plates, etc., including Earth and Venus. But some surfaces show their battered histories, like Mercury and our own Moon.

"The incredible array of craters on the Moon’s surface, for example, presents a record of the early history of the inner solar system. Planetary scientists know that a distant period of incredible violence occurred long ago, as countless small bodies in this part of the solar system cleared themselves away, mostly by colliding with larger bodies. This cosmic shooting gallery happened largely between 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago. Scientists call this period the Late Heavy Bombardment, during which an inordinately large number of asteroids and comets slammed into the larger bodies, driven by both post-accretion processes and the instability of early planetary orbits." (my bold)

Comment: the history of this period is quite clear and amazingly life appeared as it was ending