Related papers: Cryogenic Cometary Sample Return
In two recent papers published in MNRAS, Namouni and Morais (2018, 2020) claimed evidence for the interstellar origin of some small Solar System bodies, including i) objects in retrograde co-orbital motion with the giant planets, and ii)…
Evidence for cometary activity beyond Jupiter and Saturn's orbits -- such as that observed for Centaurs and long period comets -- suggests that the thermal processing of comet nuclei starts long before they enter the inner Solar System,…
Grains of ice are formed spontaneously when water vapor is injected into a weakly-ionized laboratory plasma in which the background gas has been cooled to cryogenic temperatures comparable to those of deep space. These ice grains are…
This white paper, written in support of NASA's 2023-2032 Planetary Decadal Survey, outlines 10 major questions that focus on the origin, evolution, and current processes that shape the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune. Prioritizing these…
Understanding the origin of comets requires knowledge of how the Solar System formed from a cloud of dust and gas 4.567 Gyr ago. Here, a review is presented of how the remnants of this formation process, meteorites and to a lesser extent…
I present here a new, indivisible planetary science paradigm, a wholly self-consistent vision of the nature of matter in the Solar System, and dynamics and energy sources of planets. Massive-core planets formed by condensing and raining-out…
This concept article discusses the challenges of identifying planetary-origin meteorites of non-igneous composition, primarily of sedimentary origin, distinct from SNC meteorites. The paper reviews evidence on putative sedimentary-origin…
In this review presented at the Royal Society meeting, "Cometary Science After Rosetta", I present an overview of studies of small solar system objects that exhibit properties of both asteroids and comets (with a focus on so-called active…
The chemical evolution in star forming regions is driven by the interplay between gas and ice mantles. Identifying the ice compositions at the early stage of star formation thus provides constraints on the chemical processes inaccessible…
The standard approach to obtaining knowledge about the properties of the surface layer of a comet from observations of gas production consists of two stages. First, various thermophysical models are used to calculate gas production for a…
The gas-driven dust activity of comets is still an unresolved question in cometary science. In the past, it was believed that comets are dirty snowballs and that the dust is ejected when the ice retreats. However, thanks to the various…
Comets provide a unique insight into the molecular composition and complexity of the material in the primordial solar nebula. Recent results from the Rosetta mission, currently monitoring comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in situ, and ALMA…
We study the influence of the turbulent transport on ice chemistry in protoplanetary disks, focusing on carbon and nitrogen bearing molecules. Chemical rate equations are solved with the diffusion term, mimicking the turbulent mixing in the…
As comets journey into the inner solar system, they deliver particulates and volatile gases into their comae that reveal the most primitive materials in the solar system. Cometary dust particles provide crucial information for assessing the…
We developed a thermophysical model for cometary nuclei, which is based upon the assumption that comets form by the gravitational instability of an ensemble of dust and ice aggregates. Under this condition, the tensile strength of the…
Changes in the chemical and isotopic composition of the solar nebula with time are reflected in the properties of different constituents that are preserved in chondritic meteorites. CR carbonaceous chondrites are among the most primitive of…
Context. Centaurs are icy objects in transition between the transneptunian region and the inner solar system, orbiting the Sun in the giant planet region. Some Centaurs display cometary activity, which cannot be sustained by the sublimation…
Assessing the origin of Pluto and Triton has profound implications for the bigger picture of Solar System formation and evolution. In such a context, this chapter reviews our current knowledge of the formation conditions of Pluto and…
The delivery of water to the inner Solar System rocky planets, including Earth, remains debated, as standard models assume that they formed from dry grains, inside the snowline of the protosolar nebula. However, a recent work showed that a…
Within the framework of The Heterogeneous dust Evolution Model at the IaS (THEMIS) this work investigates in detail the surface processes and chemistry relating to core/mantle interstellar and cometary grain structures and its influence on…