scholarly journals An interstellar origin for high-inclination Centaurs

2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (2) ◽  
pp. 2191-2199 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Namouni ◽  
M H M Morais
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Precise Orbit Determination ◽  
Oort Cloud ◽  
The Past ◽  
Real Objects ◽  
Outward Migration ◽  
Current Orbit ◽  
Relaxation Models

ABSTRACT We investigate the possible origins of real high-inclination Centaurs and trans-neptunian objects using a high-resolution statistical search for stable orbits that simulates their evolution back in time to the epoch when planet formation ended 4.5 billion years in the past. The simulation is a precise orbit determination method that does not involve ad hoc initial conditions or assumptions such as those found in planetesimal disc relaxation models upon which their conclusions depend. It can therefore be used to independently test origin theories based on relaxation models by examining the past orbits of specific real objects. Here, we examined 17 multiple-opposition high-inclination Centaurs and the two polar trans-neptunian objects 2008 KV42 and (471325) 2011 KT19. The statistical distributions show that their orbits were nearly polar 4.5 Gyr in the past, and were located in the scattered disc and inner Oort cloud regions. Early polar inclinations cannot be accounted for by current Solar system formation theory as the early planetesimal system must have been nearly flat in order to explain the low-inclination asteroid and Kuiper belts. Furthermore, the early scattered disc and inner Oort cloud regions are believed to have been devoid of Solar system material as the planetesimal disc could not have extended far beyond Neptune’s current orbit in order to halt the planet’s outward migration. The nearly polar orbits of high-inclination Centaurs 4.5 Gyr in the past therefore indicate their probable early capture from the interstellar medium.

scholarly journals No evidence for interstellar planetesimals trapped in the Solar system

2020 ◽  
Vol 497 (1) ◽  
pp. L46-L49 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Morbidelli ◽  
K Batygin ◽  
R Brasser ◽  
S N Raymond
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Oort Cloud ◽  
Giant Planets ◽  
Asteroid Belt ◽  
Interstellar Space ◽  
Fast Decay ◽  
Early Solar System ◽  
The Past ◽  
Solar System Bodies ◽  
Main Asteroid Belt

ABSTRACT In two recent papers published in MNRAS, Namouni and Morais claimed evidence for the interstellar origin of some small Solar system bodies, including: (i) objects in retrograde co-orbital motion with the giant planets and (ii) the highly inclined Centaurs. Here, we discuss the flaws of those papers that invalidate the authors’ conclusions. Numerical simulations backwards in time are not representative of the past evolution of real bodies. Instead, these simulations are only useful as a means to quantify the short dynamical lifetime of the considered bodies and the fast decay of their population. In light of this fast decay, if the observed bodies were the survivors of populations of objects captured from interstellar space in the early Solar system, these populations should have been implausibly large (e.g. about 10 times the current main asteroid belt population for the retrograde co-orbital of Jupiter). More likely, the observed objects are just transient members of a population that is maintained in quasi-steady state by a continuous flux of objects from some parent reservoir in the distant Solar system. We identify in the Halley-type comets and the Oort cloud the most likely sources of retrograde co-orbitals and highly inclined Centaurs.

scholarly journals Fab Four: When John and George Play Gravitation and Cosmology

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-P. Bruneton ◽  
M. Rinaldi ◽  
A. Kanfon ◽  
A. Hees ◽  
S. Schlögel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Scalar Field ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Parameter Space ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Equations Of Motion ◽  
Inflationary Model ◽  
Einstein Tensor ◽  
Chameleon Mechanism ◽  
Derivatives Of

Scalar-tensor theories of gravitation attract again a great interest since the discovery of the Chameleon mechanism and of the Galileon models. The former allows reconciling the presence of a scalar field with the constraints from Solar System experiments. The latter leads to inflationary models that do not need ad hoc potentials. Further generalizations lead to a tensor-scalar theory, dubbed the “Fab Four,” with only first and second order derivatives of the fields in the equations of motion that self-tune to a vanishing cosmological constant. This model needs to be confronted with experimental data in order to constrain its large parameter space. We present some results regarding a subset of this theory named “John,” which corresponds to a nonminimal derivative coupling between the scalar field and the Einstein tensor in the action. We show that this coupling gives rise to an inflationary model with very unnatural initial conditions. Thus, we include the term named “George,” namely, a nonminimal, but nonderivative, coupling between the scalar field and Ricci scalar. We find a more natural inflationary model, and, by performing a post-Newtonian analysis, we derive the set of equations that constrain the parameter space with data from experiments in the Solar System.

Accretion Processes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Morbidelli
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Total Mass ◽  
Extrasolar Planets ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Oort Cloud ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Solid Particles ◽  
Giant Planets ◽  
Irregular Satellites ◽  
Accretion Process

In planetary science, accretion is the process in which solids agglomerate to form larger and larger objects, and eventually planets are produced. The initial conditions are a disc of gas and microscopic solid particles, with a total mass of about 1% of the gas mass. These discs are routinely detected around young stars and are now imaged with the new generation of instruments. Accretion has to be effective and fast. Effective, because the original total mass in solids in the solar protoplanetary disk was probably of the order of ~300 Earth masses, and the mass incorporated into the planets is ~100 Earth masses. Fast, because the cores of the giant planets had to grow to tens of Earth masses to capture massive doses of hydrogen and helium from the disc before the dispersal of the latter, in a few millions of years. The surveys for extrasolar planets have shown that most stars have planets around them. Accretion is therefore not an oddity of the solar system. However, the final planetary systems are very different from each other, and typically very different from the solar system. Observations have shown that more than 50% of the stars have planets that don’t have analogues in the solar system. Therefore the solar system is not the typical specimen. Models of planet accretion have to explain not only how planets form, but also why the outcomes of the accretion history can be so diverse. There is probably not one accretion process but several, depending on the scale at which accretion operates. A first process is the sticking of microscopic dust into larger grains and pebbles. A second process is the formation of an intermediate class of objects called planetesimals. There are still planetesimals left in the solar system. They are the asteroids orbiting between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, the trans-Neptunian objects in the distant system, and other objects trapped along the orbits of the planets (Trojans) or around the giant planets themselves (irregular satellites). The Oort cloud, source of the long period comets, is also made of planetesimals ejected from the region of formation of the giant planets. A third accretion process has to lead from planetesimals to planets. Actually, several processes can be involved in this step, from collisional coagulation among planetesimals to the accretion of small particles under the effect of gas drag, to giant impacts between protoplanets. Adopting a historical perspective of all these processes provides details of the classic processes investigated in the past decades to those unveiled in the last years. The quest for planet formation is ongoing. Open issues remain, and exciting future developments are expected.

scholarly journals Comet C/2018 V1 (Machholz–Fujikawa–Iwamoto): dislodged from the Oort Cloud or coming from interstellar space?

2019 ◽  
Vol 489 (1) ◽  
pp. 951-961 ◽  
Author(s):  
C de la Fuente Marcos ◽  
R de la Fuente Marcos
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Dynamical Evolution ◽  
Oort Cloud ◽  
Interstellar Space ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Past ◽  
Using Data ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Practical Feasibility

ABSTRACT The chance discovery of the first interstellar minor body, 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua), indicates that we may have been visited by such objects in the past and that these events may repeat in the future. Unfortunately, minor bodies following nearly parabolic or hyperbolic paths tend to receive little attention: over 3/4 of those known have data-arcs shorter than 30 d and, consistently, rather uncertain orbit determinations. This fact suggests that we may have observed interstellar interlopers in the past, but failed to recognize them as such due to insufficient data. Early identification of promising candidates by using N-body simulations may help in improving this situation, triggering follow-up observations before they leave the Solar system. Here, we use this technique to investigate the pre- and post-perihelion dynamical evolution of the slightly hyperbolic comet C/2018 V1 (Machholz–Fujikawa–Iwamoto) to understand its origin and relevance within the context of known parabolic and hyperbolic minor bodies. Based on the available data, our calculations suggest that although C/2018 V1 may be a former member of the Oort Cloud, an origin beyond the Solar system cannot be excluded. If extrasolar, it might have entered the Solar system from interstellar space at low relative velocity with respect to the Sun. The practical feasibility of this alternative scenario has been assessed within the kinematic context of the stellar neighbourhood of the Sun, using data from Gaia second data release, and two robust solar sibling candidates have been identified. Our results suggest that comets coming from interstellar space at low heliocentric velocities may not be rare.

The Origin of the Moon and its Relationship to the Origin of the Solar System

1962 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 133-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold C. Urey
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
The Moon ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Origin Of The Moon

During the last 10 years, the writer has presented evidence indicating that the Moon was captured by the Earth and that the large collisions with its surface occurred within a surprisingly short period of time. These observations have been a continuous preoccupation during the past years and some explanation that seemed physically possible and reasonably probable has been sought.

Stellar Evolution

1962 ◽  
Vol 11 (02) ◽  
pp. 137-143
Author(s):  
M. Schwarzschild
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Stellar Evolution ◽  
Space Craft ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Substantial Body ◽  
Individual Stars ◽  
The Past ◽  
Evolution Of Galaxies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fast Flow

It is perhaps one of the most important characteristics of the past decade in astronomy that the evolution of some major classes of astronomical objects has become accessible to detailed research. The theory of the evolution of individual stars has developed into a substantial body of quantitative investigations. The evolution of galaxies, particularly of our own, has clearly become a subject for serious research. Even the history of the solar system, this close-by intriguing puzzle, may soon make the transition from being a subject of speculation to being a subject of detailed study in view of the fast flow of new data obtained with new techniques, including space-craft.

Dynamics of comets in the collapsing protosolar nebula

1999 ◽  
Vol 173 ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
L. Neslušan
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Velocity Distribution ◽  
Oort Cloud ◽  
Interstellar Clouds ◽  
Protosolar Nebula ◽  
Moving Bodies

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.

The Long View of Planetary Systems

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karel Schrijver
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Planetary Systems ◽  
Giant Planets ◽  
Milky Way Galaxy ◽  
Population Statistics ◽  
The Past ◽  
General Terms ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
The Universe

How many planetary systems formed before our’s did, and how many will form after? How old is the average exoplanet in the Galaxy? When did the earliest planets start forming? How different are the ages of terrestrial and giant planets? And, ultimately, what will the fate be of our Solar System, of the Milky Way Galaxy, and of the Universe around us? We cannot know the fate of individual exoplanets with great certainty, but based on population statistics this chapter sketches the past, present, and future of exoworlds and of our Earth in general terms.

scholarly journals Simulations of Switchback, Fragmentation and Sunspot Pair in δ-Sunspots during Magnetic Flux Emergence

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 586
Author(s):  
Che-Jui Chang ◽  
Jean-Fu Kiang
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Field Strength ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Flux Emergence ◽  
Polarity Inversion ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
Spot Type

Strong flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), launched from δ-sunspots, are the most catastrophic energy-releasing events in the solar system. The formations of δ-sunspots and relevant polarity inversion lines (PILs) are crucial for the understanding of flare eruptions and CMEs. In this work, the kink-stable, spot-spot-type δ-sunspots induced by flux emergence are simulated, under different subphotospheric initial conditions of magnetic field strength, radius, twist, and depth. The time evolution of various plasma variables of the δ-sunspots are simulated and compared with the observation data, including magnetic bipolar structures, relevant PILs, and temperature. The simulation results show that magnetic polarities display switchbacks at a certain stage and then split into numerous fragments. The simulated fragmentation phenomenon in some δ-sunspots may provide leads for future observations in the field.

scholarly journals Time Direction of Information Propagation and Cosmology

1972 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
DT Pegg
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Information Propagation ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
Consistent Solution ◽  
Electrodynamic Theory ◽  
The Universe ◽  
State Universe

In conventional electrodynamic theory, the advanced potential solution of Maxwell's equations is discarded on the ad hoc basis that information can be received from the past only and not from the future. This difficulty is overcome by the Wheeler?Feynman absorber theory, but unfortunately the existence of a completely retarded solution in this theory requires a steady-state universe. In the present paper conventional electrodynamics is used to obtain a condition which, if satisfied, allows information to be received from the past only, and ensures that the retarded potential is the only consistent solution. The condition is that a function Ua of the future structure of the universe is infinite, while the corresponding function Ur of the past structure is finite. Of the currently acceptable cosmological models, only the steady-state, the open big-bang, and the Eddington-Lema�tre models satisfy this condition. In these models there is no need for an ad hoc reason for the preclusion of advanced potentials.

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