Crater-ray formation by impact-induced ejecta particles

We performed impact experiments with granular targets to reveal the formation process of crater “rays”, the non-uniform ejecta distributions around some fresh craters on the Moon and planets. We found mesh patterns, loosely woven with spaces like a net, as ejecta. A characteristic length of spaces between meshes was evaluated, and an angle, defined as the ratio of the characteristic length to the distance from the ejection point, was obtained as ∼a few degrees. These features are similar to the results of the analyses of the ray patterns around two lunar craters, Glushko and Kepler. Numerical simulations of granular material showed that clear mesh pattern appeared at lower coefficients of restitution between particles but was less clear at larger one, suggesting that the inelastic collisions between particles cause the clear mesh-pattern formation of impact ejecta.