Why Are Craters Always Round?

Visit https://brilliant.org/scishow/ to get started learning STEM for free. The first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium subscription and a 30-day free trial. If you take a look at all the impact craters in our solar system, the vast majority are nice, neat circles. But why? Meteorites and asteroids strike planets and moons at all sorts of angles. Where are all the elliptical craters? Hosted by: Savannah Geary (they/them) ---------- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ---------- Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: Matt Curls, Alisa Sherbow, Dr. Melvin Sanicas, Harrison Mills, Adam Brainard, Chris Peters, charles george, Piya Shedden, Alex Hackman, Christopher R, Boucher, Jeffrey Mckishen, Ash, Silas Emrys, Eric Jensen, Kevin Bealer, Jason A Saslow, Tom Mosner, Tomás Lagos González, Jacob, Christoph Schwanke, Sam Lutfi, Bryan Cloer ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? SciShow Tangents Podcast: https://scishow-tangents.simplecast.com/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scishow Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishowFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow #SciShow #science #education #learning #complexly ---------- Sources: https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/why-are-impact-craters-always-circular/ https://www.britannica.com/science/meteor/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-are-impact-craters-al/ https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-craters-mars-reveal-how-planet-s-tilt-has-changed-over-time https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1904/1904.08446.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003206331630157X https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013JE004477 https://astronomy.com/magazine/ask-astro/2011/12/crater-shapes https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019103511004064 Images: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_25.html https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aneirin_crater_MESSENGER_WAC_mosaic.jpg https://www.flickr.com/photos/edsweeney/4111291263/ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Comet_NEOWISE_and_meteor.jpg https://www.flickr.com/photos/edsweeney/4111291263/ https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/young-boy-playing-in-a-muddy-sand-pit-stock-footage/665924230?adppopup=true https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/asteroid-impact-on-earth-asteroid-comet-meteorite-glows-stock-footage/1400382484?adppopup=true https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc-20110719-messier.html https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04729 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IAcwLYYFGk&t=1759s&ab_channel=NASAJetPropulsionLaboratory https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barringer_Crater_aerial_photo_by_USGS.jpg https://www.nasa.gov/content/elliptical-crater-on-mercury https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/multimedia/messenger_orbit_image201200206_1.html https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/multimedia/messenger_orbit_image20111023_1.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTr3VdGlFr8&t=186s&ab_channel=NASAGoddard https://sci.esa.int/web/mars-express/-/38544-elliptical-impact-crater-in-hesperia-planum https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/solar-system-with-eight-planets-and-their-orbits-3d-stock-footage/1396306085?adppopup=true https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/herschel/dwarf-planet-ceres-pia17830 https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/22477/the-changing-surface-of-mars/ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia15095-changes-in-tilt-of-mars-axis https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2948/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/