A Collision Between Mars And Jupiter

[MarcusMacGregor]

Hello,

A few years back I had the idea that the topography of Mars could have been largely created by a close encounter with Jupiter. I posted it on several forums and got some great responses. (And some angry trolls, but hey it is the internet so what can you do)

 

The introduction video to this idea is here:

http://youtu.be/mGOsw8CLxmE

 

This is a flyby that tears out the Hellas basin. I found that a great many people thought that it went by the Roche limit. I'd just like to point out ahead of time that Mars has a fairly high density so the Roche limit does not come into play.

 

I made a video showing the location of some things around Jupiter because of this common confusion.

http://youtu.be/PJumdRcZcUA

 

I just made a video showing what I consider to be the most easily grasped evidence of this:

http://youtu.be/zHGX_ZQwGdA

 

I have a video planned for the trajectory of the event. I found that many people are convinced that falling into Jupiter or being flung out of the solar system are the only options. I found many planetary scientists I contacted recommended the L4 or L5 lagrangian point as the start of the trajectory. I have decided to adopt this rather than my initial idea of a highly elliptical Mars triggered by a orbital resonance. L4 would accelerate while L5 would decelerate leading to the correct Hamiltonian.

 

I also have a video planned for the timing of the event. One commenter noted that we would of totally noticed this happening. I guess he was thinking that it was breaking news. We have been watching Mars for quite some time and although it saddens me that I have to make it explicit- This event occurred before the invention of astronomy.

 

So I'm posting on this forum to see if there is other flaws of this idea that I have not addressed. I want to run it by as many people as possible before I start the laborious task of submission to journals.

 

So, if you think you have a debunking concept or just a facet of the idea that needs more depth please tell me. It may be something I have worked out already but have not mentioned, but hopefully it might be something that I have missed. I have had this idea for awhile so it appears obvious to me, I understand if it does not appear so to you; I'd like to know why you have a dubious perspective.

 

If you don't accept the idea but don't have a reason why, perhaps you can share it with someone who can come up with a reason.

 

If you like the idea and have a piece of supporting evidence I have not mentioned, that would be great too.

 

If you simply like the idea, I always appreciate a like, share or nice comment. The internet can be a very negative place.

 

Thank you.

 

 

[CraigD]

Welcome to hypography, MarcusMacGregor! :) Please feel free to start a topic in the introductions forum to tell us something about yourself.

 

Have you modeled your hypothesis, using a physically realistic computer program :QuestionM

 

If you have, the best way to solicit review and comments is to post your program, data, and output as plain text.

 

If you haven’t, you’re unlikely to be taken seriously by even an amateur astrophysicist like myself.

 

A fundamental problem with designing a scenario in which two bodies currently in nearly circular solar orbits had a close encounter is that, for this to have happened, one or both bodies must have once had a more eccentric orbit that transferred it to its current orbit, which requires powerful gravitational interactions at at least 2 points. It’s relatively easy to set up initial conditions for a Mars-mass body in a near-Jupiter orbit to gain the needed change in velocity (delta V) from Jupiter to be injected into a Jupiter obit to Mars orbit transfer orbit, but without a giant body in Mars orbit to give it a similar delta V, it will remain in that transfer orbit, repeatedly interacting with Jupiter, not enter a nearly circular Mars orbit. If you place a giant body in Mars orbit, you then need a design that gets it out of that orbit before it can spoil the Mar-mass body’s end orbit.

 

For those unfamiliar with basic orbital mechanical terms like transfer orbit, and that they require at least an initial and a final delta V, the Wikipedia article Hohmann transfer orbit is a good introduction to these ideas. The Hohmann transfer orbit is an ideal maneuver, and the simplest to calculate.