Related papers: Thermal Shadows and Compositional Structure in Com…

A 3-D numerical model of comet nuclei is presented. An implicit numerical scheme was developed for the thermal evolution of a spherical nucleus composed of a mixture of ice and dust. The model was tested against analytical solutions,…

We show that if comets (or any small icy planetesimals such as Kuiper belt objects) are composed of pebble piles, their internal radiogenic as well as geochemical heating results in considerably different evolutionary outcomes compared to…

All cometary nuclei that formed in the early Solar System incorporated radionuclides and therefore were subject to internal radiogenic heating. Previous work predicts that if comets have a pebble-pile structure internal temperature build-up…

There has been increasing evidence of shadows from scattered light observations of outer protoplanetary disks (PPDs) cast from the (unresolved) disk inner region, while in the meantime these disks present substructures of various kinds in…

We present a fully integrated model of comet evolution that couples thermal and compositional processes with dynamical processes continuously, from formation to present-day activity. The combined code takes into account changes in orbital…

We analyze albedo data obtained using the Herschel Space Observatory that reveal the existence of two distinct types of surface among midsized transneptunian objects. A color-albedo diagram shows two large clusters of objects, one redder…

Kuiper belt objects, such as Arrokoth, the probable progenitors of short-period comets, formed and evolved at large heliocentric distances, where the ambient temperatures appear to be sufficiently low for preserving volatile ices. By…

Ice naturally forms in the disordered or ``amorphous'' state when accreted from vapor at temperatures and pressures found in the interstellar medium and in the frigid, low density outer regions of the Sun's protoplanetary disk. It is…

The interest in the structure of ice-rich planetary bodies, in particular the differentiation between ice and rock, has grown due to the discovery of Kuiper belt objects and exoplanets. We thus carry out a parameter study for a range of…

Cometary surfaces can change significantly and rapidly due to the sublimation of their volatile material. Many authors have investigated this evolution; Vincent et al. (2017) have used topographic data from all comets visited by spacecrafts…

The improvements of the knowledge of the seismic structure of the inner core and the complexities thereby revealed ask for a dynamical origin. Sub-solidus convection was one of the early suggestions to explain the seismic anisotropy, but it…

Magmatism in subduction zones builds continental crust and causes most of Earth's subaerial volcanism. The production rate and composition of magmas are controlled by the thermal structure of subduction zones. A range of geochemical and…

The trajectories of dust particles ejected from a comet are affected by solar radiation pressure as a function of their ratios of radiation pressure cross section to mass. Therefore, a study on the orbital evolution of the particles caused…

We propose a chemical and dynamical process to explain the surface colors of the Kuiper belt. In our hypothesis, the initial bulk compositions of the bodies themselves can be quite diverse -- as is seen in comets -- but the early surface…

The damping on the fluctuation spectrum and the presence of thermal velocities as properties of warm dark matter particles like sterile neutrinos imprint a distinct signature found from the structure formation mechanisms to the internal…

The process of forming a circumbinary planet is thought to be intimately related to the structure of the nascent circumbinary disc. It has been shown that the structure of a circumbinary disc depends strongly on 3-dimensional effects and on…

Deciphering the structure of the circumplanetary disk that surrounded Jupiter at the end of its formation is key to understanding how the Galilean moons formed. Three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations have shown that this disk was…

Planets embedded in optically thick passive accretion disks are expected to produce perturbations in the density and temperature structure of the disk. We calculate the magnitudes of these perturbations for a range of planet masses and…

Sub-Neptunes and Neptunes are often modeled with distinct, fully convective layers. Yet, there are several arguments for compositions gradients that can inhibit convection. In these regions, energy transport depends on the thermal…

Context. Breathtaking imagery recorded during the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission confirmed the bilobate nature of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's nucleus. Its peculiar appearance is not unique among comets. The majority of…