Blinding Lights: Simulation-Based Evidence for Terrestrial Giant Impacts as Astronomically Observable Events

Abstract

Giant impacts (collisions between planet-sized bodies) are violent events that fundamentally alter the properties of planets and the structure of planetary systems. Observations of these events provide important constraints on the role of giant impacts in the formation of planetary systems. However, relating such observations to the specifics of the impact responsible is challenging, since numerical simulations struggle to resolve the expected extreme low densities of observable material at the edge of ongoing impact structures. In particular, lower limits on density are often enforced in SPH codes for computational efficiency. Here, we present a method of post-processing output from smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations of giant impacts, that emulates realistic physical properties in multi-phase and multi-material collisions, in order to better understand these low-density outer regions. We apply our novel post-processing pipeline to determine the direct thermal emission and potential observational signatures of giant impacts, and obtain consistent photic surface geometries for an example impact simulated for a range of resolutions and code parameters. We find that during the first days after this terrestrial giant impact event, the emission from hot, unbound ejecta can be comparable in temperature and luminosity to that of an M-Dwarf star, and as such can be astronomically observable. Our work begins to bridge the gap between observations and theoretical models, and could allow high cadence, large-sky surveys, such as that to be carried out by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, to place constraints on the frequency and properties of giant impacts in our local neighbourhood.