The Effect of the Sun’s Early Environment on the Oort Cloud and Comet Showers

Details The Effect of the Sun’s Early Environment on the Oort Cloud and Comet Showers The Effect of the Sun’s Early Environment on the Oort Cloud and Comet Showers

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...209.2516k&link_type=abstract

2007 AAS/AAPT Joint Meeting, American Astronomical Society Meeting 209, #25.16; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, V

Biology

Scientific paper

Using direct numerical integrations, we model the formation of the Oort Cloud in three different open cluster environments. Observations indicate that stars typically form in regions of much higher density than the galactic field environment. Contrary to this, most simulations of the Oort Cloud formation have assumed an unvarying galactic setting identical to the one the Sun currently occupies. The enhanced stellar encounters associated with a more realistic primordial environment, however, affect both Oort Cloud trapping efficiencies and the abundance of the inner Oort Cloud. Furthermore, the number of bodies occupying the inner Oort Cloud determines the intensity of modern day comet showers, and in this way the Sun's birthplace environment has had a significant influence on Earth's habitability. This work investigates which type of stellar birthplace yields cometary impact rates that are optimal for life on Earth. This work has been funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the NSF.

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