Related papers: Comet Hazard to the Earth
The orbital distribution of trans-Neptunian objects provides strong evidence for the radial migration of Neptune. The outer planets' orbits are thought to have become unstable during the early stages with Jupiter having scattering…
Solid embryos of the Earth and the Moon, as well as trans-Neptunian binaries, could form as a result of contraction of the rarefied condensation which was parental for a binary. The angular momentum of the condensation needed for formation…
Most detected transiting planets have orbits which would fit within the one of Mercury, exposing them to intense stellar irradiation and interactions that significantly alter their properties. In contrast, colder planets with longer orbital…
Planets with several Earth masses and a few day orbital periods have been discovered through radial velocity and transit surveys. Regardless of their formation mechanism, a key evolution issue is the efficiency of their retention near their…
Tidal disruption events are common in the Universe, which may occur in various compact star systems and could account for many astrophysical phenomena. Depending on the separation between the central compact star and its companion, either a…
Giant planets in circumstellar disks can migrate inward from their initial (formation) positions. Radial migration is caused by inward torques between the planet and the disk; by outward torques between the planet and the spinning star; and…
Sungrazing comets have always captured a lot of interest and curiosity among the general public as well as scientists since ancient times. The perihelion passage of comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) at the end of this year (on 2013 November 28) is an…
We examine the orbital element distribution of main-belt comets (MBCs), which are objects that exhibit cometary activity yet orbit in the main asteroid belt, and may be potentially useful as tracers of ice in the inner solar system. We find…
Hydrogen, helium, silicates, and iron are key building blocks of rocky and gas-rich planets, yet their chemical interactions remain poorly constrained. Using first-principles molecular dynamics and thermodynamic integration, we quantify…
Transiting planets are generally close enough to their host stars that tides may govern their orbital and thermal evolution of these planets. We present calculations of the tidal evolution of recently discovered transiting planets and…
Impacts by rocky and icy bodies are thought to have played a key role in shaping the composition of solar system objects, including the Earth's habitability. Hence, it is likely that they play a similar role in exoplanetary systems. We…
It is not known if, in addition to the Newton's inverse square law component, the gravitational force has some non-Newtonian, long-range components that have escaped detection until now. For example, the non-Newtonian component of the…
The conjecture is considered that every body induces the wave field which imposes oscillations on the gravitational potential of a body. The function for oscillations is chosen to prevent the gravitational collapse of the matter at the…
The discovery of Jupiter-mass planets in close orbits about their parent stars has challenged models of planet formation. Recent observations have shown that a number of these planets have highly inclined, sometimes retrograde orbits about…
It has long been assumed that the planet Jupiter acts as a giant shield, significantly lowering the impact rate of small bodies on the Earth. However, until recently, very little work had been carried out examining the role played by…
Recent simulations show that giant planets of about one Jupiter mass migrate inward at a rate that differs from the Type II prediction. Here we show that at higher masses, planets migrate outward. Our result differs from previous ones…
The practical distinctions between asteroids and comets, viewed as products of accretion on either side of the snow line, are less clear-cut than previously understood. In this chapter, we discuss the numerous solar system populations which…
Since planet occurrence and primordial atmospheric retention probability increase with period, the occurrence-weighted median planets discovered by transit surveys may bear little resemblance to the low-occurrence, short-period planets…
A critical step toward the emergence of planets in a protoplanetary disk consists in accretion of planetesimals, bodies 1-1000 km in size, from smaller disk constituents. This process is poorly understood partly because we lack good…
Hot Jupiters are giant planets on orbits a few hundredths of an AU. They do not share their system with low-mass close-in planets, despite these latter being exceedingly common. Two migration channels for hot Jupiters have been proposed:…