![]() In the past, impacts were not regarded as important in the thermal evolution of asteroids. Meteorites are a window into the early solar system as they contain a physical record of the processes that occurred during its inception. My research aims to quantify the thermal consequences of impacts on asteroids, the parent bodies of most meteorites. Read more: The science behind the Global Fireball Observatory, the hazard of airbursts and how to model them. Cameras in our network recorded the Winchcombe meteorite fireball and helped to recover the meteorite and determine where in the solar system it came from. My group helps to run the UK Fireball Network, which is part of the Global Fireball Observatory. Monitoring the sky for these fireballs helps to measure the frequency of impacts on Earth and increase the chances of recovering any surviving meteorite fragments. While events that can cause damage are rare smaller fragments that produce bright fireballs and drop meteorites are relatively common. Small asteroid fragments enter Earth's atmosphere all the time, producing meteors or fireballs in the sky. Read more: The effect of asteroid properties and layering on the DART impact outcome. My research has simulated the DART impact and shown that the outcome of the collision will depend quite sensitively on the properties of the target asteroid Dimorphos. This experiment will act as important validation for numerical simulations of the impact. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) mission, which launches in 2022, will test and investigate how effectively a spacecraft impact can deflect a small asteroid. ![]() Read more: A new crater near Insight and the seismic detectability of small impacts on Mars. This involves modelling both the fragmentation of small meteoroids as they travel through Mars' tenuous atmosphere as well as the seismic waves and cratering motions produced when the surviving fragments strike the ground. My contribution to the mission is to aid these efforts by simulating the impact of small meteoroids on Mars and the seismic signals generated. An ancient fragment of Earth on the Moon? small impacts on marsĪn objective of NASA's InSight mission currently operational on Mars is to measure the rate of small impacts on Mars. Read more: Formation of the Orientale basin. My recent work has provided new insight into the relationship between observed crater diameter and asteroid size, and helped to constrain the mass flux of asteroids in the inner solar system, which has implications for accurate dating of planetary surfaces, delivery of volatiles to the Earth-Moon system since its formation, and the severity of early bombardment in the inner solar system. I am interested in how large asteroid impacts shaped the Moon’s crust during its early evolution. Read more: Formation of the Chicxulub crater, Evidence of rock fluidization at Chicxulub, why the Chicxulub impact was a perfect storm and the first day of the cenozoic. ![]() My numerical simulations have aided geophysical interpretation of the Chicxulub crater, Mexico, and constrained the impact energy of this major event in Earth history, which wiped out more than 70% of species. The 65.5 Ma, K-Pg mass extinction event was triggered by a large impact that formed the Chicxulub crater, Mexico. Meteoroid fragmentation in planetary atmospheres and the formation of crater clusters on Earth and Mars Modelling the Giant South Pole-Aitken basin If you are considering a PhD in my research area, please get in touch if you are interested in the following projects or to discuss related research ideas:Īutomated Crater Detection and Classification with Machine Learning The major themes of my research are described below. ISALE: A shock physics code for simulating impact phenomena Impacts and Astromaterials Research CentreĮnvironmental consequences of impacts on Earth My research explores the many consequences of impacts in the solar system through the development and application of numerical impact models.
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