The new model is based
on computer simulations of collisions between asteroid Vesta separated and a
couple of rocks from 32 km in diameter in the last billion years. The results
suggest that cosmic impacts caused Vesta's crust to melt and then re-form, with
its thicker crust than can be explained by typical rock layers, the scientists
said.
Collisions carved two
large impact craters on the surface of Vesta. The oldest, Veneneia, formed
about 2,000 million years. With a diameter of 395 km, the crater covers nearly
three quarters of the diameter of Vesta Ecuador. Covering 90% of the diameter
of Vesta, is one of the largest craters in the Solar System.
