Related papers: Implications of Captured Interstellar Objects for …
The nearest stellar system consists of the stars Proxima, alpha Centauri A and B and at least one planet Proxima b. The habitability of Proxima b and any other planets are likely to be significantly influenced by the orbital evolution of…
The discovery of the first two interstellar objects implies that, on average, every star contributes a substantial amount of material to the galactic population by ejecting such bodies from the host system. Since scattering is a chaotic…
The first interstellar object, `Oumuamua, was discovered in the Solar System by Pan-STARRS in 2017, allowing for a calibration of the impact rate of interstellar meteors of its size $\sim 100\;$m. The discovery of CNEOS 2014-01-08 allowed…
Exporting terrestrial life out of the Solar System requires a process that both embeds microbes in boulders and ejects those boulders out of the Solar System. We explore the possibility that Earthgrazing long-period comets and interstellar…
The scenario and efficiency of water transport by icy asteroids and comets are still amongst the most important unresolved questions of planetary systems. A better understanding of cometary dynamics in extrasolar systems shall provide…
A restricted planar circular three-body system, consisting of the Sun and two planets, is studied as a simple model for a planetary system. The mass of the inner planet is considered to be larger and the system is assumed to be moving in a…
With the advent of large-collecting-area instruments, the number of objects that can be reached by optical long-baseline interferometry is steadily increasing. We present here a few results on massive binary stars, showing the interest of…
Trans-Neptunian objects and Centaurs are small solar system bodies that reside in the outer parts of the solar system. These objects present photometric behaviours that are influenced due to a change in their aspect angle. Using absolute…
A variety of terrestrial planets with different physical parameters and exotic atmospheres might plausibly exist outside our Solar System, waiting to be detected by the next generation of space-exploration missions. Some of these planets…
The recently discovered minor body 1I/2017 U1 (`Oumuamua) is the first known object in our Solar System that is not bound by the Sun's gravity. Its hyperbolic orbit (eccentricity greater than unity) strongly suggests that it originated…
Most massive stars are found in the center of dense clusters, and have a companion fraction much higher than their lower mass siblings; the massive stars of the Trapezium core in Orion have ~ 1.5 companions each. This high multiplicity…
As discoveries of multiple planets in the habitable zone of their parent star mount, developing analytical techniques to quantify extrasolar intra-system panspermia will become increasingly important. Here, we provide user-friendly…
We examine a low energy mechanism for the transfer of meteoroids between two planetary systems embedded in a star cluster using quasi-parabolic orbits of minimal energy. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the exchange of meteoroids…
The origins of irregular satellites of the giant planets are an important piece of the giant "puzzle" that is the theory of Solar System formation. It is well established that they are not "in situ" formation objects, around the planet, as…
We investigate the prospects for the capture of the proposed Planet 9 from other stars in the Sun's birth cluster. Any capture scenario must satisfy three conditions: the encounter must be more distant than ~150 au to avoid perturbing the…
1I/`Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov are the first macroscopic interstellar objects to be detected in the solar system. Their discovery has triggered a tsunami of scientific interest regarding the physical properties, dynamics and origin of the…
By logging encounters between planetesimals and planets we compute the distribution of encounters in a numerically integrated two planet system that is migrating due to interactions with an exterior planetesimal belt. Capture of an…
The concept of a system-wide measure of the sustainment of life (habitability) for space-faring interplanetary species is introduced and explored. Although largely agnostic to the details of how interplanetary life might operate (e.g., via…
A large fraction of stars are formed in dense clusters. In the cluster, close encounters between stars at distances less than 100 au are common. It has been shown that during close encounters planets can transfer between stars. Such…
Mean motion resonances are a common feature of both our own Solar System and of extrasolar planetary systems. Bodies can be trapped in resonance when their orbital semi-major axes change, for instance when they migrate through a…