Shaping of the inner Oort cloud by Planet Nine
Abstract
We present a numerical simulation of the dynamical interaction between the proposed Planet Nine and a debris disk around the Sun for , accounting for the secular perturbation of the four giant planets in two scenarios: (a) an initially thin circular disk around the Sun (b) inclined and eccentric disk. We show, in both scenarios, that Planet Nine governs the dynamics in between and forms spherical structure in the inner part () and inclined disk. This structure is the outcome of mean motion resonances and secular interaction with Planet Nine. We compare the morphology of this structure with the outcome from a fly-by encounter of a star with the debris disk and show distinct differences between the two cases. We predict that this structure serves as a source of comets and calculate the resulting comet production rate to be detectable.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1609.08614,
title = {Shaping of the inner Oort cloud by Planet Nine},
author = {Erez Michaely and Abraham Loeb},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1609.08614},
year = {2017}
}