High-Resolution Simulations of a Moon-forming Impact and Postimpact Evolution

In order to examine the "giant impact hypothesis" for the formation of the Moon, we run the first grid-based, high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations of an impact between proto-Earth and a protoplanet. The spatial resolution for the impact-generated disk is greatly improved from previous particle-based simulations. This allows us to explore the fine structures of a circumterrestrial debris disk and its long-term evolution. We find that in order to form a debris disk from which a lunar-sized satellite can be accumulated, the impact must result in a disk of mostly liquid or solid debris, where pressure is not effective, well before the accumulation process starts. If the debris is dominated by vapor gas, strong spiral shocks are generated, and therefore the circumterrestrial disk cannot survive more than several days. This suggests that there could be an appropriate mass range for terrestrial planets to harbor a large moon as a result of giant impacts, since vaporization during an impact depends on the impact energy.