The orbital evolution of NEA 30825 1900 TG1

The orbital evolution of the near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 30825 1990 TG1 has been studied by numerical integration of the equations of its motion over the 100 000-year time interval with allowance for perturbations from eight major planets and Pluto, and the variations in its osculating orbit over this time interval were determined. The numerical integrations were performed using two methods: the Bulirsch-Stoer method and the Everhart method. The comparative analysis of the two resulting orbital evolutions of motion is presented for the time interval examined. The evolution of the asteroid motion is qualitatively the same for both variants, but the rate of evolution of the orbital elements is different. Our research confirms the known fact that the application of different integrators to the study of the long-term evolution of the NEA orbit may lead to different evolution tracks.     

On the cometary nature of near-Earth asteroid 2003 EH1

Differential evolution of the orbits of near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 2003 EH1 and comet 96P/Machholz 1 under perturbing action of planets was investigated for the time interval of 28000 years. The similarity of the orbits was analyzed with the Southworth–Hawkins criterion D _SH. It has been shown that both the comet and the asteroid can be fragments of a nucleus of the same larger comet being a progenitor of the Quadrantid complex. A break-up of the parent comet apparently occurred approximately 9500 years ago. NEA 2003 EH1 is actually a dormant fragment of a nucleus of the parent comet. It was concluded that comet 96P/Machholz 1, NEA (186256) 2003 EH1 of the Amore group, and the Quadrantid meteorite swarm form a family of related objects.     

Secular Dynamics of Asteroids in the Inner Solar System

In the last three years we have carried out numerical and semi-analytical studies on the secular dynamical mechanisms in the region (semimajor axis a < 2 AU) where the NEA orbits evolve. Our numerical integrations (over a time span of a few Myr) have shown that: (i) the linear secular resonances with both the inner and the outer planets may play an important role in the dynamical evolution of NEAs; (ii) the apsidal secular resonance with Mars could provide an important dynamical transport mechanism by which asteroids in the Mars-crossing region eventually achieve Earth-crossing orbits; (iii) in this region, due to the interaction with the terrestrial planets, the Kozai resonance can occur at small inclinations, with the argument of perihelion ω librating around 0° or 180°, providing a temporary protection mechanism against close approaches to the planets. The location of the linear secular resonances in this zone has also been obtained by an automatic procedure using a semi-numerical method valid for all values of the inclinations and eccentricities of the small bodies, and also in the case of libration of the argument of perihelion. A map of the secular resonances in the (a, i) plane shows — in agreement with the numerical integrations — that all the resonances with the terrestrial and giant planets are present, and also that some of them overlap. Thus the way is now open to fully take into account secular resonances in modelling the dynamical evolution of NEAs. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Planetary atmosphere evolution:Do other habitable planets exist and can we detect them?

The goal of this conference is to consider whether it is possible within the next few decades to detect Earth-like planets around other stars using telescopes or interferometers on the ground or in space. Implicit in the term “Earth-like” is the idea that such planets might be habitable by Earth-like organisms, or that they might actually be inhabited. Here, I shall address two questions from the standpoint of planetary atmosphere evolution. First, what are the chances that habitable planets exist around other stars? And, second, if inhabited planets exist, what would be the best way to detect them?     

Eliminating Virtual Impactors with the Very Large Telescope: An ESO Program with the FORS2 Camera

We have used the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) to perform as trometric observations of Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) having remote collision possibilities with the Earth. The observations were made for those objects which became too faint to be observed elsewhere. Using the 4 hours allocated in the semester April–September 2003, 5 faint NEAs were observed. As a result, no NEA that could impact the Earth was lost.     

Peculiar A-stars and planetary systems

A suggestion is put forward that a number of spectral anomalies observed in some A-stars (Am and Ap-stars) may be due to the existence of planetary systems. Terrestrial type planets condense in matter exchanged between components of close binaries. Exchange of matter takes place at the stage of system formation and in later stages of evolution, with both late and early stars. If the outer layers of components in a system do not become renewed by mixing or outflow, then surface anomalies in the chemical composition of stars onto which fall some of the forming planetoids may serve as an evidence of the formation of planets.     

Solar wind magnetic field penetration into cometary ionospheres

It is shown that when the solar wind interacts with comets, its magnetic field may penetrate through the discontinuity surface into the cometary ionosphere. In case of Venus-like planets the effect of regular motion of magnetic field lines through, that surface is not present, and the presence of magnetic fields in the ionospheres of non-magnetic planets may be due to ionopause boundary instabilities.     

Origin of water in the inner Solar System: A kinetic Monte Carlo study of water adsorption on forsterite

The origin of water in the inner Solar System is not well understood. It is believed that temperatures were too high in the accretion disk in the region of the terrestrial planets for hydrous phases to be thermodynamically stable. Suggested sources of water include direct adsorption of hydrogen from the nebula into magma oceans after the terrestrial planets formed, and delivery of asteroidal or cometary material from beyond the zone of the terrestrial planets. We explore a new idea, direct adsorption of water onto grains prior to planetary accretion. This hypothesis is motivated by the observation that the accretion disk from which our planetary system formed was composed of solid grains bathed in a gas dominated by hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. Some of that hydrogen and oxygen combined to make water vapor. We examine quantitatively adsorption of water onto grains in the inner Solar System accretion disk by exploring the adsorption dynamics of water molecules onto forsterite surfaces via kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. We conclude that many Earth oceans of water could be adsorbed.     

The First International Conference “Comets,Asteroids, Meteors,Meteorites, Astroblemes,and Craters (CAMMAC-1)”

The conference was held in Vinnitsa (Ukraine) from September 26 until October 2, 1999. It was devoted to minor bodies in the Solar System, to structures on the surfaces of planets and the Earth, as well as to craters and astroblemes. The CAMMAC-1 meetings were held in the M. Kotsyubinskii Vinnitsa Pedagogical University. About 80 representatives from 19 research organizations of 15 European cities attended the conference. Thirty-six oral papers and a number of poster papers were presented and discussed. Several new scientific results are evaluated in the resolution, and the most topical problems in the study of minor bodies and impact structures on the surfaces of the Earth and planets are formulated.     

Some dynamical aspects of the accretion of Uranus and Neptune: The exchange of orbital angular momentum with planetesimals

The final stage of the accretion of Uranus and Neptune is numerically investigated. The four Jovian planets are considered with Jupiter and Saturn assumed to have reached their present sizes, whereas Uranus and Neptune are taken with initial masses 0.2 of their present ones. Allowance is made for the orbital variation of the Jovian planets due to the exchange of angular momentum with interacting bodies (“planetesimals”). Two possible effects that may have contributed to the accretion of Uranus and Neptune are incorporated in our model: (1) an enlarged cross section for accretion of incoming planetesimals due to the presence of extended gaseous envelopes and/or circumplanetary swarms of bodies; and (2) intermediate protoplanets in mid-range orbits between the Jovian planets. Significant radial displacements are found for Uranus and Neptune during their accretion and scattering of planetesimals. The orbital angular momentum budgets of Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn turn out to be positive; i.e., they on average gain orbital angular momentum in their interactions with planetesimals and hence they are displaced outwardly. Instead, Jupiter as the main ejector of bodies loses orbital angular momentum so it moves sunward. The gravitational stirring of planetesimals caused by the introduction of intermediate protoplanets has the effect that additional solid matter is injected into the accretion zones of Uranus and Neptune. For moderate enlargements of the radius of the accretion cross section (2–4 times), the accretion time scale of Uranus and Neptune are found to be a few 10⁸ years and the initial amount of solid material required to form them of a few times their present masses. Given the crucial role played by the size of the accretion cross section, questions as to when Uranus and Neptune acquired their gaseous envelopes, when the envelopes collapsed onto the solid cores, and how massive they were are essential in defining the efficiency and time scale of accretion of the two outer Jovian planets.     

Light curve analysis of ground-based data from exoplanets transit database

Photometric observations of exoplanet transits can be used to derive the orbital and physical parameters of an exoplanet. We analyzed several transit light curves of exoplanets that are suitable for ground-based observations whose complete information is available on the Exoplanet Transit Database (ETD). We analyzed transit data of planets including HAT-P-8 b, HAT-P-16 b, HAT-P-21 b, HAT-P-22 b, HAT-P-28 b and HAT-P-30 b using the AstroImageJ (AIJ) software package. In this paper, we investigated 82 transit light curves from ETD, deriving their physical parameters as well as computing their mid-transit times for future Transit Timing Variation (TTV) analyses. The Precise values of the parameters show that using AIJ as a fitting tool for follow-up observations can lead to results comparable to the values at the NASA Exoplanet Archive (the NEA). Such information will be invaluable considering the numbers of future discoveries from ground and space-based exoplanet surveys.     

Migration and evolution of extrasolar planets

Giant planets in circumstellar disks can migrate inward from their initial (formation) positions at several AUs. Inward radial migration of the planet is caused by torques between the planet and the disk; outward radial migration of the planet is caused by torques between the planet and the spinning star, and by torques due to Roche lobe overflow and consequent mass loss from the planet. We present self-consistent numerical considerations of the problem of migrating giant planets by summing torques on planets for various physical parameters of the disk and of planets. We find that Jupiter-mass planets can stably arrive and survive at small heliocentric distances, thus reproducing observed properties of some of the recently discovered extra-solar planets. The range of fates of massive planets is broad, and some perish by losing all their mass onto the central star during Roche lobe overflow, while others survive for the lifetime of the central star. Surviving planets cluster into two groups when examined in terms of final mass and final heliocentric distance: those which have lost mass and those which have not. Some of the observed extrasolar planets fall into each of these two exclusive classes. We also find that there is an inner boundary for planets' final heliocentric distances, caused by tidal torques with the central star. Planets in small orbits are shown to be stable against atmospheric loss.     

Formation of the giant planets

Observational constraints on interior models of the giant planets indicate that these planets were all much hotter when they formed and they all have rock and/or ice cores of ten to thirty earth masses. These cores are probably soluble in the envelopes above, especially in Jupiter and Saturn, and are therefore likely to be primordial. They persist despite the continual upward mixing by thermally driven convection throughout the age of the solar system, because of the inefficiency of double-diffusive convection. Thus, these planets most probably formed by the hydrodynamic collapse of a gaseous envelope onto a core rather than by direct instability of the gaseous solar nebula. Recent calculations by Mizuno (1980, Prog. Theor. Phys.64, 544) show that this formation mechanism may explain the similarity of giant planet core masses. Problems remain however, and no current model is entirely satisfactory in explaining the properties of the giant planets and simultaneously satisfying the terrestrial planet constraints. Satellite systematics and protoplanetary disk nebulae are also discussed and related to formation conditions.     

The formation and habitability of terrestrial planets in the presence of close-in giant planets

‘Hot jupiters,’ giant planets with orbits very close to their parent stars, are thought to form farther away and migrate inward via interactions with a massive gas disk. If a giant planet forms and migrates quickly, the planetesimal population has time to re-generate in the lifetime of the disk and terrestrial planets may form [P.J. Armitage, A reduced efficiency of terrestrial planet formation following giant planet migration, Astrophys. J. 582 (2003) L47-L50]. We present results of simulations of terrestrial planet formation in the presence of hot/warm jupiters, broadly defined as having orbital radii ?0.5 AU. We show that terrestrial planets similar to those in the Solar System can form around stars with hot/warm jupiters, and can have water contents equal to or higher than the Earth's. For small orbital radii of hot jupiters (e.g., 0.15, 0.25 AU) potentially habitable planets can form, but for semi-major axes of 0.5 AU or greater their formation is suppressed. We show that the presence of an outer giant planet such as Jupiter does not enhance the water content of the terrestrial planets, but rather decreases their formation and water delivery timescales. We speculate that asteroid belts may exist interior to the terrestrial planets in systems with close-in giant planets.     

On the migration of a system of protoplanets

The evolution of a system consisting of a protoplanetary disc with two embedded Jupiter-sized planets is studied numerically. The disc is assumed to be flat and non-self-gravitating; this is modelled by the planar (two-dimensional) Navier–Stokes equations. The mutual gravitational interaction of the planets and the star, and the gravitational torques of the disc acting on the planets and the central star are included. The planets have an initial mass of one Jupiter mass M _Jup each, and the radial distances from the star are one and two semimajor axes of Jupiter, respectively.
During the evolution a joint wide annular gap is created by the planets. Both planets increase their mass owing to accretion of gas from the disc: after about 2500 orbital periods of the inner planet it has reached a mass of 2.3  M _Jup, while the outer planet has reached a mass of 3.2  M _Jup. The net gravitational torques exerted by the disc on the planets result in an inward migration of the outer planet on time-scales comparable to the viscous evolution time of the disc. The semimajor axis of the inner planet remains constant as there is very little gas left in its vicinity to induce any migration. When the distance of close approach eventually becomes smaller than the mutual Hill radius, the eccentricities increase strongly and the system may become unstable.
If disc depletion occurs rapidly enough before the planets come too close to each other, a stable system similar to our own Solar system may remain. Otherwise the orbits may become unstable and produce systems like υ And.     

The ARIEL mission reference sample

The ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Exoplanet Large-survey) mission concept is one of the three M4 mission candidates selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) for a Phase A study, competing for a launch in 2026. ARIEL has been designed to study the physical and chemical properties of a large and diverse sample of exoplanets and, through those, understand how planets form and evolve in our galaxy. Here we describe the assumptions made to estimate an optimal sample of exoplanets – including already known exoplanets and expected ones yet to be discovered – observable by ARIEL and define a realistic mission scenario. To achieve the mission objectives, the sample should include gaseous and rocky planets with a range of temperatures around stars of different spectral type and metallicity. The current ARIEL design enables the observation of ～1000 planets, covering a broad range of planetary and stellar parameters, during its four year mission lifetime. This nominal list of planets is expected to evolve over the years depending on the new exoplanet discoveries.     

Binary asteroid population: 1. Angular momentum content

We compiled a list of estimated parameters of binary systems among asteroids from near-Earth to trojan orbits. In this paper, we describe the construction of the list, and we present results of our study of angular momentum content in binary asteroids. The most abundant binary population is that of close binary systems among near-Earth, Mars-crossing, and main belt asteroids that have a primary diameter of about 10 km or smaller. They have a total angular momentum very close to, but not generally exceeding, the critical limit for a single body in a gravity regime. This suggests that they formed from parent bodies spinning at the critical rate (at the gravity spin limit for asteroids in the size range) by some sort of fission or mass shedding. The Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect is a candidate to be the dominant source of spin-up to instability. Gravitational interactions during close approaches to the terrestrial planets cannot be a primary mechanism of formation of the binaries, but it may affect properties of the NEA part of the binary population.     

Eccentric Extrasolar Planets: The Jumping Jupiter Model

Most extrasolar planets discovered to date are more massive than Jupiter, in surprisingly small orbits (semimajor axes less than 3 AU). Many of these have significant orbital eccentricities. Such orbits may be the product of dynamical interactions in multiplanet systems. We examine outcomes of such evolution in systems of three Jupiter-mass planets around a solar-mass star by integration of their orbits in three dimensions. Such systems are unstable for a broad range of initial conditions, with mutual perturbations leading to crossing orbits and close encounters. The time scale for instability to develop depends on the initial orbital spacing; some configurations become chaotic after delays exceeding 10⁸ y. The most common outcome of gravitational scattering by close encounters is hyperbolic ejection of one planet. Of the two survivors, one is moved closer to the star and the other is left in a distant orbit; for systems with equal-mass planets, there is no correlation between initial and final orbital positions. Both survivors may have significant eccentricities, and the mutual inclination of their orbits can be large. The inner survivor's semimajor axis is usually about half that of the innermost starting orbit. Gravitational scattering alone cannot produce the observed excess of “hot Jupiters” in close circular orbits. However, those scattered planets with large eccentricities and small periastron distances may become circularized if tidal dissipation is effective. Most stars with a massive planet in an eccentric orbit should have at least one additional planet of comparable mass in a more distant orbit.     

Detecting the glint of starlight on the oceans of distant planets

We propose that astronomers will be eventually be able to discriminate between extrasolar Earth-like planets with surface oceans and those without using the shape of phase light curves in the visible and near-IR spectrum. We model the visible light curves of planets having Earth-like surfaces, seasons, and optically-thin atmospheres with idealized diffuse-scattering clouds. We show that planets partially covered by water will appear measurably brighter near crescent phase (relative to Lambertian planets) because of the efficient specular reflection (“glint”) of starlight incident on their surfaces at a highly oblique angle. Planets on orbits within 30° of edge-on orientation (50% of all planets) will show pronounced glint over a sizeable range of orbital longitudes, from quadrature to crescent, all outside the glare of their parent stars. Also, water-covered planets will appear darker than a Lambertian disk near full illumination. Finally, we show that planets with a mixed land/water surface will polarize the reflected signal by as much as 30-70%. These results suggest several new ways of directly identifying water on distant planets.