Analytical Description of Fragment Mass Distributions at Disruption of Cosmic Bodies in the Atmosphere and in Impact Experiments
I. G. Brykina & L. A. Egorova
Solar System Research, Volume 60, article number 31, Published: 18 April 2026
“The mass distributions of unevaporated fragments of meteoroids and asteroids disrupted in the atmosphere, as well as the mass distributions of fragments of bodies disrupted in impact experiments modeling the fragmentation of asteroids at collisions in outer space, are considered. Analytical description of these distributions is carried out using the method (Brykina and Egorova, 2021), which expresses the cumulative number of fragments depending on the fragment mass, the total mass of fragments, the mass and number of maximum fragments and a free parameter—the power index. We described the results of impact experiments on the disruption of the Allende, Mbale, NWA 620, MOR 001 meteorite samples and Mauna Loa basalt samples available in the literature. We constructed and described the distributions of the Bruderheim, Villalbeto de la Peña, St-Robert, and Motopi Pan meteorites, recovered after observed passages of cosmic bodies through the atmosphere, as well as the distributions of meteorites whose falls occurred thousands of years ago: the Gold Basin, Jiddat al Harasis 073, Whitecourt, Campo del Cielo, and Canyon Diablo. The results of the description of experimental distributions confirm the previously proposed analytical dependence of the power index on the specific impact energy. Based on the description of fragment mass distributions for 22 meteorite falls, the dependence of the power index on the number of fragments in a meteorite collection is analyzed. The features of various distributions are pointed out.”
