Simulations of the Deflection of an Apophis-like Object
Jutzi, M.¹; Michel, P.²; Benz, W.^1
1University of Bern; ²University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Côte d'Azur Observatory

The change in orbit of an asteroid resulting from the impact of a projectile (spacecraft) depends upon the momentum transferred during the collision. The computation of this amount is not straightforward as it is largely determined by the amount of material ejected from the impact crater. This amount as well as its velocity distribution are functions of the internal structure (e.g. porosity) and material characteristics of the target.

The design of a deflection mission relies at least partially on the estimated impact energy required to perform a given degree of deflection. We use our Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) impact code to investigate the amount of transferred momentum as a function of the target structure. Our code has been recently improved to be able to compute the collisional process both in porous and non-porous targets. In particular, we study how porosity might affect the momentum transfer achieved in a given collision. To perform this study, we use an Apophis-like object as a target.

We present some preliminary results of this study and also discuss the difficulties of performing 3D numerical simulations of such deflection scenarios.