Methods for the Study of the Dynamics of the Oort Cloud Comets I: Modelling the Stellar Perturbations

Author(s):  
Marc Fouchard ◽  
Christiane Froeschlé ◽  
Hans Rickman ◽  
Giovanni B. Valsecchi
2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S236) ◽  
pp. 43-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga A. Mazeeva

AbstractThe dynamical evolution of 2⋅105 hypothetical Oort cloud comets by the action of planetary, galactic and stellar perturbations during 2⋅109 years is studied numerically. The evolution of comet orbits from the outer (104 AU <a<5⋅104 AU, a is semimajor axes) and the inner Oort cloud (5⋅103 AU <a<104 AU) to near-Earth space is investigated separately. The distribution of the perihelion (q) passage frequency in the planetary region is obtained calculating the numbers of comets in every interval of Δ q per year. The flux of long-period (LP) comets (orbital periods P>200 yr) with perihelion distances q<1.5 AU brighter than visual absolute magnitude H10=7 is ∼ 1.5 comets per year, and ∼18 comets with H10<10.9. The ratio of all LP comets with q<1.5 AU to ‘new’ comets is ∼5. The frequency of passages of LP comets from the inner Oort cloud through region q<1.5 AU is ∼3.5⋅10−13 yr−1, that is roughly one order of magnitude less than frequency of passages of LP comets from the outer cloud (∼5.28⋅10−12 yr−1). We show that the flux of ‘new’ comets with 15<q<31 AU is higher than with q<15 AU, by a factor ∼1.7 for comets from the outer Oort cloud and, by a factor ∼7 for comets from the inner cloud. The perihelia of comets from the outer cloud previously passed through the planetary region are predominated in the Saturn-Uranus region. The majority of inner cloud comets come in the outer solar system (q>15 AU), and a small fraction (∼0.01) of them can reach orbits with q<1.5 AU. The frequency of transfer of comets from the inner cloud (a<104 AU) to the outer Oort cloud (a>104 AU), from where they are injected to the region q<1.5 AU, is ∼6⋅10−14 yr−1.


1977 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 93-97
Author(s):  
L. Kresak

Some problems of the current interpretation of the Oort Cloud are discussed. If observational selection is taken into account, no significant difference in physical characteristics of old and new comets is apparent, in spite of the required change in the radiation mechanism after the first passage near the Sun. The abundance of new comets puts special requirements on the relative size of the perihelion distances at which they lose their orbital characteristics and original surface properties, respectively. Stellar perturbations do not seem to be effective enough to displace the perihelia of new comets in a single revolution from the zone of insignificant planetary perturbations into the zone of detectability. Therefore, many physically new comets should appear as dynamically old, which is at variance with observational evidence. It is speculated whether the Oort Cloud really represents a reservoir of comets passing near the Sun for the first time or, alternatively, a region where the capability of building up extensive comas is being restored within periods of the order of 106 to 107 years.


1977 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 87-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. R. Weissman

A Monte Carlo model of stellar perturbations of the Oort cloud is used to study the distributions in energy and perihelion of comets entering the planetary region for the first time. The model is run for a variety of initial states and a range of velocity perturbations. In all cases the resulting orbits are uniformly distributed in perihelion distance in the planetary region, q < 20 AU. Most orbits are confined to a fairly narrow range in 1/a and hyperbolic orbits are rare.


2002 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 223-224
Author(s):  
V.V. Emel’yanenko

AbstractThe evolution of near-parabolic orbits with perihelia in the trans-neptunian region has been studied, considering the action of planetary, Galactic and stellar perturbations for the age of the Solar System. This investigation has led to the conclusion that the observed trans-neptunian objects in high-eccentricity orbits might originate from the inner core of the Oort cloud.


2008 ◽  
Vol 102 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 111-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Rickman ◽  
Marc Fouchard ◽  
Christiane Froeschlé ◽  
Giovanni B. Valsecchi

1999 ◽  
Vol 173 ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
L. Neslušan

AbstractComets are created in the cool, dense regions of interstellar clouds. These macroscopic bodies take place in the collapse of protostar cloud as mechanically moving bodies in contrast to the gas and miscroscopic dust holding the laws of hydrodynamics. In the presented contribution, there is given an evidence concerning the Solar system comets: if the velocity distribution of comets before the collapse was similar to that in the Oort cloud at the present, then the comets remained at large cloud-centric distances. Hence, the comets in the solar Oort cloud represent a relict of the nebular stage of the Solar system.


1999 ◽  
Vol 173 ◽  
pp. 327-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Fernández ◽  
T. Gallardo

AbstractThe Oort cloud probably is the source of Halley-type (HT) comets and perhaps of some Jupiter-family (JF) comets. The process of capture of Oort cloud comets into HT comets by planetary perturbations and its efficiency are very important problems in comet ary dynamics. A small fraction of comets coming from the Oort cloud − of about 10−2− are found to become HT comets (orbital periods &lt; 200 yr). The steady-state population of HT comets is a complex function of the influx rate of new comets, the probability of capture and their physical lifetimes. From the discovery rate of active HT comets, their total population can be estimated to be of a few hundreds for perihelion distancesq &lt;2 AU. Randomly-oriented LP comets captured into short-period orbits (orbital periods &lt; 20 yr) show dynamical properties that do not match the observed properties of JF comets, in particular the distribution of their orbital inclinations, so Oort cloud comets can be ruled out as a suitable source for most JF comets. The scope of this presentation is to review the capture process of new comets into HT and short-period orbits, including the possibility that some of them may become sungrazers during their dynamical evolution.


1999 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 1042-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan García-Sánchez ◽  
Robert A. Preston ◽  
Dayton L. Jones ◽  
Paul R. Weissman ◽  
Jean-François Lestrade ◽  
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2019 ◽  
Vol 629 ◽  
pp. A139 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Torres ◽  
M. X. Cai ◽  
A. G. A. Brown ◽  
S. P. Zwart

Comets in the Oort cloud evolve under the influence of internal and external perturbations, such as giant planets, stellar passages, and the Galactic gravitational tidal field. We aim to study the dynamical evolution of the comets in the Oort cloud, accounting for the perturbation of the Galactic tidal field and passing stars. We base our study on three main approaches; analytic, observational, and numerical. We first construct an analytical model of stellar encounters. We find that individual perturbations do not modify the dynamics of the comets in the cloud unless very close (<0.5 pc) encounters occur. Using proper motions, parallaxes, and radial velocities from Gaia DR2 and combining them with the radial velocities from other surveys, we then construct an astrometric catalogue of the 14 659 stars that are within 50 pc of the Sun. For all these stars we calculate the time and distance of closest approach to the Sun. We find that the cumulative effect of relatively distant (≤1 pc) passing stars can perturb the comets in the Oort cloud. Finally, we study the dynamical evolution of the comets in the Oort cloud under the influence of multiple stellar encounters from stars that pass within 2.5 pc of the Sun and the Galactic tidal field over ±10 Myr. We use the Astrophysical Multipurpose Software Environment (AMUSE), and the GPU-accelerated direct N-body code ABIE. We considered two models for the Oort cloud, compact (a ≤ 0.25 pc) and extended (a ≤ 0.5 pc). We find that the cumulative effect of stellar encounters is the major perturber of the Oort cloud for a compact configuration while for the extended configuration the Galactic tidal field is the major perturber. In both cases the cumulative effect of distant stellar encounters together with the Galactic tidal field raises the semi-major axis of ~1.1% of the comets at the edge of the Oort cloud up to interstellar regions (a > 0.5 pc) over the 20 Myr period considered. This leads to the creation of transitional interstellar comets (TICs), which might become interstellar objects due to external perturbations. This raises the question of the formation, evolution, and current status of the Oort cloud as well as the existence of a “cloud” of objects in the interstellar space that might overlap with our Oort cloud, when considering that other planetary systems should undergo similar processes leading to the ejection of comets.


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