Related papers: Ejected Surface Regolith as a Potential Source Mat…
Abridged: We use three-dimensional SPH simulations to investigate the collapse of low-mass prestellar cores and the formation and early evolution of protostellar discs. The initial conditions are slightly supercritical Bonnor-Ebert spheres…
Extrasolar debris disks are detected by observing dust, which is thought to be released during planetesimal collisions. This implies that planetesimals are dynamically excited ("stirred"), such that collisions are sufficiently common and…
Following our identification of the probable interstellar origin of high-inclination Centaurs, Morbidelli et al. (2020) issued a rebuttal criticizing our methods and conclusions. Here, we show that the criticism is unfounded. Entropy's…
The Centaur (10199) Chariklo has the first rings system discovered around a small object. It was first observed using stellar occultation in 2013. Stellar occultations allow the determination of sizes and shapes with kilometre accuracy and…
A circumsolar dust ring has been recently discovered close to the orbit of Mercury. There are currently no hypotheses for the origin of this ring in the literature, so we explore four different origin scenarios here: the dust originated…
In this paper we explore the possibility that the recently detected reflected light signal of 51\,Peg\,b could be caused by a ring system around the planet. We use a simple model to compare the observed signal with the expected signal from…
We present a framework to study regolith segregation on rubble-pile asteroids (self-gravitating granular aggregates) due to seismic shaking induced by impacts sustained during their lifetimes. We first relate the amplitude and frequency of…
We study the orbital evolution and mass growth of protoplanets with masses $M \in [0.1-8]$~M$_\oplus$ in the vicinity of a dusty ring, using three-dimensional numerical simulations with a two-fluid model and nested-meshes. We find two…
Rings are complex structures surrounding giant planets and some minor bodies in the Solar System. While some formation mechanisms could also potentially foster their existence around (regular or irregular) satellites, none of these bodies…
Planetary rings are often speculated as being a relatively common attribute of giant planets, partly based on their prevalence within the Solar System. However, their formation and sustainability remain a topic of open discussion, and the…
We investigate a new theory of the origin of the irregular satellites of the giant planets: capture of one member of a ~100-km binary asteroid after tidal disruption. The energy loss from disruption is sufficient for capture, but it cannot…
Saturn's rings are composed of icy grains, most in the mm to m size ranges, undergoing several collisions per orbit. Their collective behaviour generates a remarkable array of structure over many orders of magnitude, much of it not well…
Catastrophic collisions between proto-satellites have been proposed as a possible origin of Saturn's rings. This argument relies on the concept of the equivalent circular orbit. Here, we re-examine the post-impact dynamical evolution of…
Nuclear disks and rings are frequent galaxy substructures, for a wide range of morphological types (from S0 to Sc). We have investigated the possible minor-merger origin of inner disks and rings in spiral galaxies through collisionless…
The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa 2 visited the asteroid (162173) Ryugu and provided many high-resolution images of its surface, revealing that Ryugu has a spinning-top shape with a prominent equatorial ridge, much like the shapes reported…
The motion of bodies ejected from the Earth was studied, and the probabilities of collisions of such bodies with the present terrestrial planets were calculated. The dependences of these probabilities on velocities, angles and points of…
Rings have been found around Chariklo, Haumea and Quaoar, three small objects of the Solar System. All these rings are observed near the second-order spin-orbit resonances (SORs) 1/3 or 5/7 with the central body, suggesting an active…
Granular material that is bound by the low gravity of a small asteroid is mobilized by slow velocity impacts. These splashes generated by impacts might play an important role in sculpting the asteroid's surface. In laboratory experiments we…
The exploration of small body asteroids provides direct access to the primitive building blocks of our solar system. Sample and return missions enable chemical and radioisotope studies which not only provide evidence for the formation of…
This paper studies the mean angular momentum associated with the collision of two celestial objects in the earliest stages of planet formation. Of primary concern is the scenario of two rarefied preplanetesimals (RPPs) in circular…