Direct measurement of chemical composition of SO x in impact vapor using a laser gun

Abstract

The final chemical composition of vapor clouds created by the impacts higher than 10 km/s is important to investigate the evolution of the planetary surface environment and life. However, no previous experimental study has observed directly it because of experimental difficulties. In this study, we conducted hypervelocity impact experiments using a laser gun and measured the chemical compositions of the impact-generated sulfuric oxides directly. The result clearly shows that the sulfur oxides released by hypervelocity impacts are dominated by SO 3, not SO 2. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.