Related papers: Evolutionary Processes in the Centaur Region
Dynamical evolution plays a key role in shaping the current properties of star clusters and star cluster systems. A detailed understanding of the effects of evolutionary processes is essential to be able to disentangle the properties which…
In this paper, I review some of the basic properties of the pulsar population in globular clusters (GCs) and compare it with the the Galactic disk population. The neutron stars (NSs) in GCs were likely formed - and appear to continue…
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…
The globular cluster Omega Centauri displays evidence of a complex star formation history and peculiar internal chemical evolution, setting it apart from essentially all other globular clusters of the Milky Way. In this review we discuss…
We present a chronology of the formation and early evolution of the Oort cloud by simulations. These simulations start with the Solar System being born with planets and asteroids in a stellar cluster orbiting the Galactic center. Upon…
Proxima Centauri is an M dwarf approximately 15,000 AU from the Alpha Centauri binary, comoving and likely in a loosely bound orbit. Dynamic simulations show this configuration can form from a more tightly bound triple system. As our…
Despite decades of inquiry, the origin of giant planets residing within a few tenths of an astronomical unit from their host stars remains unclear. Traditionally, these objects are thought to have formed further out before subsequently…
Despite the recent discoveries of planets orbiting stars at all evolutionary stages, the evolution of planetary systems remains poorly understood. Studying planetary systems around red giant branch stars can reveal how main sequence…
Both Centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are minor bodies found in the outer Solar System. Centaurs are a transient population that moves between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune, and they probably diffused out of the TNOs. TNOs…
A new classification scheme is introduced for comet-like bodies in the Solar system. It covers the traditional comets as well as the Centaurs and Edgeworth-Kuiper belt objects. At low inclinations, close encounters with planets often result…
Gas giants orbiting interior to the ice line are thought to have been displaced from their formation locations by processes that remain debated. Here we uncover several new metallicity trends, which together may indicate that two competing…
Since the discovery of the first extra-solar planets, we are confronted with the puzzling diversity of planetary systems. Processes like planet radial migration in gas-disks and planetary orbital instabilities, often invoked to explain the…
This paper explores the intermediate-time dynamics of newly formed solar systems with a focus on possible mechanisms for planetary migration. We consider two limiting corners of the available parameter space -- crowded systems containing…
The asteroid belt was dynamically shaped during and after planet formation. Despite representing a broad ring of stable orbits, the belt contains less than one one-thousandth of an Earth mass. The asteroid orbits are dynamically excited…
The population of giant planets on short-period orbits can potentially be explained by some flavours of high-eccentricity migration. In this paper we investigate one such mechanism involving "secular chaos", in which secular interactions…
Detailed orbit integrations of clones of five Centaurs -- namely, 1996 AR20, 2060 Chiron, 1995 SN55, 2000 FZ53 and 2002 FY36 -- for durations of 3 Myr are presented. One of our Centaur sample starts with perihelion initially under the…
Due to the conventional distinction between ecological (rapid) and evolutionary (slow)timescales, ecological and population models to date have typically ignored the effects of evolution. Yet the potential for rapid evolutionary change has…
The globular cluster $\omega$ Centauri (NGC 5139) is a puzzling stellar system harboring several distinct stellar populations whose origin still represents a unique astrophysical challenge. Current scenarios range from primordial chemical…
This chapter is dedicated to the slow dynamics of the climate system, at time scales of one~thousand to one million years. We focus specifically on the phenomenon of ice ages that has characterised the slow evolution of climate over the…
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)…