For example, based on one impact, we were able to determine that Jupiter had already formed right around 5 million years after the first solar system solids, changing the timeline of our understanding of the solar system." "Essentially, by studying the formation of chondrules by impacts, we can better understand what was going on in the nascent solar system. "Most meteorites contain chondrules - small, previously molten, particles," Johnson said. Space missions and laboratory analyses provide a constant supply of new data and questions to work on. His research is helping humans explore the planetary bodies in the solar system with only physics, math and a computer. And the time scale of his research ranges from relatively recent impacts to nearly the beginning of the solar system itself.Ĭollecting clues about collisions helps Johnson reconstruct the environment in which the collisions took place, offering deep insights into how and when bodies formed. Studying impacts can help us determine the composition and structure of planets."Īs an associate professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences in Purdue University's College of Science, Johnson has studied almost every major planetary body in the solar system. All the planets and asteroids were built from a series of impacts. They drive the evolution of planetary crusts.
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They are a major driver of change in planetary bodies. "Craters are found on almost every solid body we've ever seen. "Impact cratering is the most ubiquitous surface process shaping planetary bodies," Johnson said. Brandon Johnson studies the latter, using information about impacts to understand the history and the composition of planets, moons, asteroids and meteorites throughout the solar system.
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