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                                                                                                                                              Oblique Impact Craters

                                                                      Note :  This webpage is still in progress and should will be finished soon !      Please have another look at this page in the next months !

The following images show what happens if an impactor ( an asteroid of comet ) impacts on the surface of a planet or moon in a very shallow angle < 15°.

►   “Oblique Impacts” normally have the following properties :

1.)   An elliptical impact crater is formed during impact 

 
2.)   Oblique impacts (2) produce a butterfly-shaped ejecta blanket with two mostly forward directed wings

 
3.)   The ejecta blanket is formed by multiple ejecta lobes

4.)   The smaller the impact angle the more ejecta is thrown out without being melted

 
5.)  There is often a blow-out rim on the rear end of the crater visible. ( the crater has a flat end )
 

Here are some examples of oblique Impact Craters :                

         Please note :   The peak shock pressure produced by an oblique impact ( impact angle < 15 ° ) is reduced drastically and the volume of impact melt decreases by more than 90% for a 15° Impact.