The transfer of comets from parabolic orbits to short-period orbits: Numerical studies

Details The transfer of comets from parabolic orbits to short-period orbits: Numerical studies The transfer of comets from parabolic orbits to short-period orbits: Numerical studies

Jan 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994a%26a...281..911f&link_type=abstract

Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361), vol. 281, no. 3, p. 911-922

Computer Science

Numerical Analysis

20

Comets, Eccentric Orbits, Jupiter (Planet), Numerical Analysis, Orbit Perturbation, Orbital Mechanics, Two Body Problem, Astronomical Models, Celestial Mechanics, Halley'S Comet, Oort Cloud, Comets, Orbit, Short-Period Comets, Numerical Methods, Long-Period Comets, Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Calculations, Inclination, Kuiper Belt, Energy, Period, Dynamics, Distribution, Capture, Retrograde Motion, Parameters, Origin, Source, Simulation, Evolution, Timescale, Abundance, Jupiter Family, Oort Cloud

Scientific paper

The transfer process of long-period (LP) comets from parabolic orbits to short-period (SP) orbits is studied numerically for small perihelion distances (q less than 2 AU) and for perihelia in the Jupiter's zone (4 less than q less than 5.2 AU). Two different numerical approaches are used. For q less than 2 AU, it is shown that the inclination distribution of a population of LP comets with initial random orientations of their orbital planes (i.e. a sinusoidal distribution of i) evolves toward a flatter distribution by the combination of two dynamical effects. When the number of passages is limited by physical causes, less comets in retrograde orbits are found to reach evolved states owing to their slower evolution. This can explain the depletion of retrograde comets among the observed old LP comets (200 less than P less than 1000 yr) and intermediate-period (IP) comets (20 less than P less than 200 yr) with q less than 2 AU, which suggests average physical lifetimes of about 300-500 revolutions for comets moving through the LP path. For q less than 2 AU the probability of capture of a LP comet into an IP orbit is found to be about 0.01 when an upper limit of 400 revolutions is considered. This gives a steady-state population of intermediate-period comets of the Halley type with q less than 2 AU of approximately equal 300 members. Long-period comets evolving in the Jupiter's zone (4 less than q less than 5.2 AU) from an initial population of randomly oriented, parabolic comets reach the intermediate-period stage with an inclination distribution already biased toward direct orbits without considering physical losses. This is due to the stronger dependence of the typical energy change on the inclination, which results in a much lower transfer probability for retrograde orbits. Randomly-oriented LP comets captured in SP orbits, either from the small-q zone or from the Jupiter's zone, show dynamical properties that do not match the observed ones. There are also serious discrepancies with the values of the Tisserand constant, the derived distribution of the perihelion distances and the steady-state population of SP comets. Low-inclination comets moving in the trans-jovian region, like P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 and Chiron, may be the appropriate precursors of the Jupiter-family comets.

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