What is the ultimate consequence of a high-speed collision between two similarly-sized planetesimals instead of merging?
Answer
It can shatter them into smaller fragments, effectively resetting local growth progress
While accretion is key, collisions must be controlled and gentle for continued growth. If two planetesimals of comparable size collide at too high a relative velocity, the kinetic energy overcomes the gravitational binding forces, leading to fragmentation. This shattering breaks down the large bodies into smaller pieces, which often means they fall back below the planetesimal threshold or become subject to gas drag again. This fragmentation acts as a severe bottleneck, potentially delaying the formation of a giant body in that region by millions of years.
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