Related papers: New Paradigms For Asteroid Formation
We compute the accretion efficiency of small solids, with radii 1 cm $\le$ Rs $\le$ 10 m, on planets embedded in gaseous disks. Planets have masses 3 $\le$ Mp $\le$ 20 Earth masses (Me) and orbit within 10 AU of a solar-mass star. Disk…
Chondritic meteorites, the building blocks of terrestrial planets, are made of an out-of-equilibrium assemblage of solids formed at high and low temperatures, either in our Solar system or previous generations of stars. This was considered…
We studied 93 asteroid pairs. We estimated times elapsed since separation of pair members that are between 7*10^3 and a few 10^6 yr. We derived the rotation periods for all the primaries and a sample of secondaries. We derived the absolute…
Nearly-axisymmetric gaps and rings are commonly observed in protoplanetary discs. The leading theory regarding the origin of these patterns is that they are due to dust trapping at the edges of gas gaps induced by the gravitational torques…
The physics of planet formation is investigated using a population synthesis approach. We develop a simple model for planetary growth including pebble and gas accretion, and orbital migration in an evolving protoplanetary disk. The model is…
Chondrule formation remains one of the most elusive early Solar System events. Here, we take the novel approach of employing numerical simulations to investigate chondrule origin beyond purely cosmochemical methods. We model the transport…
Methods to constrain the surface mineralogy of asteroids have seen considerable development during the last decade with advancement in laboratory spectral calibrations and validation of our interpretive methodologies by spacecraft…
This is an overview of recent research on meteors and the parent bodies from which they are produced. While many meteor showers result from material ejected by comets, two out of the three strongest annual showers (the Geminids and the…
Recently it is proposed that porous icy dust aggregates are formed by pairwise accretion of dust aggregates beyond the snowline. We calculate the equilibrium random velocity of porous dust aggregates taking into account mutual gravitational…
The solar system is dusty, and would become dustier over time as asteroids collide and comets disintegrate, except that small debris particles in interplanetary space do not last long. They can be ejected from the solar system by Jupiter,…
Planet formation via core accretion involves the growth of solids that can accumulate to form planetary cores. There are a number of barriers to the collisional growth of solids in protostellar discs, one of which is the drift, or metre,…
The recent detection of planets around very low mass stars raises the question of the formation, composition and potential habitability of these objects. We use planetary system formation models to infer the properties, in particular their…
The ability of HST to resolve objects ten times smaller than possible from the ground has rejuvenated the study of young star clusters. A recurrent morphological theme found in nearby resolved sytems is the observation of young (typically 1…
Planetary formation is an efficient process now thought to take place on a relatively short astronomical time scale. Recent observations have shown that the dust surrounding a protostar emits more efficiently at longer wavelengths as the…
The orbital structure of the asteroid belt holds a record of the Solar System's dynamical history. The current belt only contains ${\rm \sim 10^{-3}}$ Earth masses yet the asteroids' orbits are dynamically excited, with a large spread in…
Asteroids are classified as tiny and light objects in the solar system, however some of them possess orbiting moons. According to surveys, 15% of near-earth asteroids have moons. The Electrical Discharge effect provides a new model that…
Suggestions have been made that asteroid belts may be important both for the existence of life and perhaps even for the evolution of complex life on a planet. Using numerical models for protoplanetary discs we calculate the location of the…
The discovery that axisymmetric dust rings are ubiquitous in protoplanetary disks has provoked a flurry of research on the role of pressure bumps in planet formation. High-resolution simulations by our group have shown that even a modest…
Asteroid families are formed as the result of collisions. Large fragments are ejected with speeds of the order of the escape velocity from the parent body. After the family formation, the fragments' orbits evolve in the space of proper…
An asteroid spun up to its critical limit has unique surface mechanical properties that its gravity and the centrifugal force largely balance, creating a relaxation environment where low-energy events such as mass shedding may trigger…