Near-Simultaneous Optical + NIR Photometry of Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Schwamb ◽  
Michele Bannister ◽  
Michael Marsset ◽  
Wesley Fraser ◽  
Rosemary Pike ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Near Ir ◽  
Short Period Comet ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Dust Composition ◽  
Survey Sample ◽  
Dust Coma ◽  
Rare Opportunity

<p>In August 2019, 2I/Borisov, the second interstellar object and first visibly active interstellar comet, was discovered on a trajectory nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic. Observations of planet forming disks and debris disks serve as probes of the ensemble properties of extrasolar planetesimals, but the passage of an active interstellar comet through our Solar System provides a rare opportunity to individually study these small bodies up close in the same ways in which we investigate objects originating from our own Outer Solar System. Ground-based observations of short period comet <span>67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko</span> revealed a coma dust composition indistinguishable from what was measured on its nucleus by the orbiting <em>Rosetta</em> spacecraft. Therefore when 2/I Borisov had a dust dominated tail, we attempted to study its composition with near-simultaneous griJ photometry with the Gemini North Telescope. We obtained two epochs of GMOS-N and NIRI observations in November 2019, separated by two weeks. We will report on the inferred optical-near-IR colors of 2I/I Borisov’s dust coma/tail and nucleus. We will compare our measurements to other observations of 2I/Borisov and place the interstellar comet in context with the Col-OSSOS (Colours of the Outer Solar System Survey) sample of small KBOs and interstellar object <span>ʻOumuamua</span> observed in grJ with Gemini North, using the same setup.</p>

scholarly journals The Kuiper Belt

1994 ◽  
Vol 160 ◽  
pp. 31-44
Author(s):  
Jane Luu
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Cometary Nucleus ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Short Period Comet ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Lower Limits ◽  
Period Comet

The existence of a belt of comets in the outer solar system (the “Kuiper belt”) has been postulated for a variety of reasons, including the need for a source for the short-period comets. The existence of the belt seems supported by the discoveries of the trans-Neptunian objects 1992 QB1, 1993 FW, 1993 RO, 1993 RP, 1993 SB, and 1993 SC. If these objects are members of the Kuiper belt, crude lower limits on the belt population can be established from the discoveries. The Kuiper belt comets are likely to be primordial remnants of the disk from which the solar system accreted. According to the current theories of cometary nucleus evolution, these objects are expected to possess mantles (“irradiation mantles”) which are different from mantles of comets which have been heated to the point of sublimation (“rubble mantles”). Kuiper belt comets on their way to short-period comet orbits may exist among the Centaur objects.

scholarly journals Resonant trans-Neptunian objects as a source of Jupiter-family comets

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S236) ◽  
pp. 31-34
Author(s):  
E. L. Kiseleva ◽  
V. V. Emel'yanenko
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Dynamical Evolution ◽  
Early History ◽  
Substantial Contribution ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Symplectic Integrator ◽  
Relative Fraction ◽  
Outward Transport ◽  
Short Period ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe dynamical interrelation between resonant trans-Neptunian objects and short-period comets is studied. Initial orbits of resonant objects are based on computations in the model of the outward transport of objects during Neptune's migration in the early history of the outer Solar system. The dynamical evolution of this population is investigated for 4.5 Gyr, using a symplectic integrator. Our calculations show that resonant trans-Neptunian objects give a substantial contribution to the planetary region. We have estimated that the relative fraction of objects captured per year from the 2/3 resonance to Jupiter-family orbits with perihelion distances q<2.5 AU is 0.4×10−10 near the present epoch.

scholarly journals Slow and Fast Diffusion in Asteroid-Belt Resonances: A Review

1999 ◽  
Vol 172 ◽  
pp. 25-37
Author(s):  
S. Ferraz-Mello
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Chaotic Behaviour ◽  
Asteroid Belt ◽  
Fast Diffusion ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Hecuba Gap

AbstractThis paper reviews recent advances in several topics of resonant asteroidal dynamics as the role of resonances in the transportation of asteroids and asteroidal debris to the inner and outer solar system; the explanation of the contrast of a depleted 2/1 resonance (Hecuba gap) and a high-populated 3/2 resonance (Hilda group); the overall stochasticity created in the asteroid belt by the short-period perturbations of Jupiter’s orbit, with emphasis in the formation of significant three-period resonances, the chaotic behaviour of the outer asteroid belt, and the depletion of the Hecuba gap.

scholarly journals Working Group on Planetary Systems Nomenclature (WGPSN)

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (T26A) ◽  
pp. 179-180
Author(s):  
Kaare Aksnes Aksnes ◽  
J. Blue ◽  
J. Blunck ◽  
G.A. Burba ◽  
G. Consolmagno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Working Group ◽  
Planetary Systems ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Task Groups ◽  
Western Norway ◽  
System Input ◽  
E Mail

Since the IAU General Assembly in Sydney in July 2003, the WGPSN has conducted its business through numerous e-mail exchanges between the members. A nomenclature workshop was held at Hardingasete, western Norway on September 1–3, 2005. That meeting was attended by eight members from the WG and two from the Task Groups (TG) for the small bodies and for the outer solar system. Input to the meeting had also been received by e-mail from other members.

scholarly journals The Origin and Evolution of the Comets and Other Small Bodies in the Solar System

1972 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 413-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. K. Vsekhsvyatskij
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Internal Energy ◽  
Total Mass ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
Meteor Streams ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Planetary Bodies

It has become evident that comets and other small bodies are indications of eruptive evolution processes occurring in many of the planetary bodies of the solar system. The total number of near-parabolic comets moving in the solar system is 1011 to 1012, but as many as 10 to 15 percent of them are leaving the solar system with hyperbolic velocities. Taking into account also the number of short-period comets that degenerate into asteroids and meteor streams, we have estimated the total number of comets formed during the lifetime of the solar system as 1015 to 1016 (and total mass 1029 to 1031 g). The investigation of comets and other small bodies enables us to evaluate the scale of the processes of cosmic vulcanism and the tremendous internal energy of the planets, that energy being derived from the initial stellar nature of planetary material.

A Brief Summary of Kuiper Belt Research

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-228
Author(s):  
R. Malhotra
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Solar Nebula ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Oort Cloud ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Numerical Work ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Considerable Difficulty ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Short Period

Ideas about the contents of the Solar System beyond Neptune and Pluto can be traced back to at least Edgeworth (1943, 1949) and Kuiper (1951), who speculated on the existence of pre-planetary small bodies in the outer Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune - remnants of the accretion process in the primordial Solar Nebula. The basis for the speculation was primarily the argument that the Solar Nebula was unlikely to have been abruptly truncated at the orbit of Neptune, and that in the trans-Neptunian accretion timescales were too long for bodies larger than about ˜ 1000 km in radius to have formed in the 4.5 billion year age of the Solar System. Another important theoretical argument relevant to this region of the Solar System is related to the origin of short period comets. Fernández (1980) suggested that the short period comets may have an origin in a disk of small bodies beyond Neptune, rather than being “captured” from the population of long period comets originating in the Oort Cloud, the latter scenario having considerable difficulty reconciling the observed flux of short period comets with the exceedingly low efficiency of transfer of long period comet orbits to short period ones by means of the gravitational perturbations of the giant planets. The new scenario received further strength in the numerical work of Duncan et al. (1988) and Quinn et al. (1990) which showed that the relatively small orbital inclinations of the Jupiter-family short period comets were not consistent with a source in the isotropic Oort Cloud of comets but could be reproduced with a source in a low-inclination reservoir beyond Neptune’s orbit. Duncan et al. named this hypothetical source the Kuiper Belt, and the name has come into common use in the last decade (although other names are also in use, e.g. Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt, and trans-Neptunian objects). A recent theoretical milestone was the work by Holman and Wisdom (1993) and Levison and Duncan (1993) on the long term stability of test particle orbits in the trans-Neptunian Solar System. This work showed that low-eccentricity, low-inclination orbits with semimajor axes in excess of about 43 AU are stable on billion year timescales, but that in the region between 35 AU and 43 AU orbital stability times range from 107 yr to more than 109 yr [see, for example, figure 1 in Holman (1995)]. Orbital instability in this intermediate region typically leads to a close encounter with Neptune which causes dramatic orbital changes, with the potential for subsequent transfer to the inner Solar System. Thus, this region could in principle serve as the reservoir of short period comets at the present epoch. However, the idea of a kinematically cold — i.e. low-eccentricity, low-inclination — population in this region is at odds with recent observations, and the question of the origin of short period comets remains unsettled at the present time.

scholarly journals Sample return of primitive matter from the outer Solar System

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Vernazza ◽  
P. Beck ◽  
O. Ruesch ◽  
A. Bischoff ◽  
L. Bonal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Giant Planet ◽  
Small Diameter ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Sample Return Mission

AbstractThe last thirty years of cosmochemistry and planetary science have shown that one major Solar System reservoir is vastly undersampled in the available suite of extra-terrestrial materials, namely small bodies that formed in the outer Solar System (>10 AU). Because various dynamical evolutionary processes have modified their initial orbits (e.g., giant planet migration, resonances), these objects can be found today across the entire Solar System as P/D near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter and Neptune Trojans, comets, Centaurs, and small (diameter < 200 km) trans-Neptunian objects. This reservoir is of tremendous interest, as it is recognized as the least processed since the dawn of the Solar System and thus the closest to the starting materials from which the Solar System formed. Some of the next major breakthroughs in planetary science will come from studying outer Solar System samples (volatiles and refractory constituents) in the laboratory. Yet, this can only be achieved by an L-class mission that directly collects and returns to Earth materials from this reservoir. It is thus not surprising that two White Papers advocating a sample return mission of a primitive Solar System small body (ideally a comet) were submitted to ESA in response to its Voyage 2050 call for ideas for future L-class missions in the 2035-2050 time frame. One of these two White Papers is presented in this article.

scholarly journals Near-Earth objects from the cometary flux

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (H16) ◽  
pp. 153-153
Author(s):  
Vacheslav Emel'yanenko
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
High Eccentricity ◽  
Earth Space ◽  
Near Earth Space ◽  
Dynamical Characteristics ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Near Earth Objects

AbstractWe analyze the orbital distribution of objects captured to near-Earth space from the flux of comets coming from the outer Solar system. For this purpose, we use the model of the cometary cloud developed earlier (Emelfyanenko, Asher, Bailey, 2007). This model is consistent with the broad dynamical characteristics of observed near-parabolic comets, short-period comets, Centaurs and high-eccentricity trans-Neptunian objects. We show that the observed distributions of both large and small near-Earth objects are different from the modeled distribution formed dynamically by the action of planetary perturbations. In particular, while the distributions of arguments of perihelion for observed Jupiter-family comets and modeled cometary asteroids follow a sinusoidal law with pronounced maxima around 0 and 180 degrees, it is not the case for observed cometary asteroids of any size. We conclude that there exist many unobserved extinct short-period comets among near-Earth objects of various sizes.

scholarly journals 2. Comets and the Cosmogony of the Solar System

1977 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 469-474
Author(s):  
S. K. Vsekhsvyatsky
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Orbital Evolution ◽  
Interstellar Space ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Planetary Bodies ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Stellar Temperatures ◽  
Bear Witness

The quantitative processes of eruptive development of planets into comets and other small bodies is studied from the Physical and Orbital evolution of these minor bodies. The escape of comets (and of their products of decay) into interstellar space has been of the order of 1030 to 1031 during the lifetime of the solar system. The mean density of the planets and of their large satellites, and their specific rotational energy, serve as independent checks of the amount of lost material. As far back as 1955 and 1962, the eruption theory has predicted the high volcanic activity on Venus and Mars and on some satellites, that was actually discovered by Mariner 10 and Venus 9-10. Interstellar molecules confirm that ejection of cometary gases is widespread in the Galaxy. Six new bright short-period comets discovered in 1975 provide direct evidence for comet formation in the system of Jupiter in its 1961-1969 period of high activity. Brought together, these facts prove that planetary bodies began their existence at stellar temperatures. They cooled down from the surface, forming crusts of rocky and icy materials, that have initiated a long period of eruptive evolution, characterized by numerous cataclysms with the ejection of tremendous amounts of gas and dust, separated by more quiescent phases, like the present state of the earth. Comets, asteroids, meteoritic and meteoric material bear witness for the explosive processes on planetary bodies.

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