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Interstellar object ’Oumuamua as an extinct fragment of an ejected cometary planetesimal
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Raymond, Sean N., Armitage, Philip J. and Veras, Dimitri (2018) Interstellar object ’Oumuamua as an extinct fragment of an ejected cometary planetesimal. The Astrophysical Journal, 856 (1). L7. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aab4f6 ISSN 0004-637X.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aab4f6
Abstract
'Oumuamua was discovered passing through our solar system on a hyperbolic orbit. It presents an apparent contradiction, with colors similar to those of volatile-rich solar system bodies but with no visible outgassing or activity during its close approach to the Sun. Here, we show that this contradiction can be explained by the dynamics of planetesimal ejection by giant planets. We propose that 'Oumuamua is an extinct fragment of a comet-like planetesimal born a planet-forming disk that also formed Neptune- to Jupiter-mass giant planets. On its pathway to ejection 'Oumuamua's parent body underwent a close encounter with a giant planet and was tidally disrupted into small pieces, similar to comet Shoemaker–Levy 9's disruption after passing close to Jupiter. We use dynamical simulations to show that 0.1%–1% of cometary planetesimals undergo disruptive encounters prior to ejection. Rocky asteroidal planetesimals are unlikely to disrupt due to their higher densities. After disruption, the bulk of fragments undergo enough close passages to their host stars to lose their surface volatiles and become extinct. Planetesimal fragments such as 'Oumuamua contain little of the mass in the population of interstellar objects but dominate by number. Our model makes predictions that will be tested in the coming decade by the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||||||
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Subjects: | Q Science > QB Astronomy | ||||||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Physics | ||||||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Interstellar matter, Planets -- Origin, Astrophysics -- Computer simulation | ||||||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | The Astrophysical Journal | ||||||||||||
Publisher: | Institute of Physics Publishing, Inc. | ||||||||||||
ISSN: | 0004-637X | ||||||||||||
Official Date: | 20 March 2018 | ||||||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 856 | ||||||||||||
Number: | 1 | ||||||||||||
Number of Pages: | 5 | ||||||||||||
Article Number: | L7 | ||||||||||||
DOI: | 10.3847/2041-8213/aab4f6 | ||||||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 9 April 2018 | ||||||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 10 April 2018 | ||||||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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