Migration of comets to near-Earth space
Abstract
The orbital evolution of more than 21000 Jupiter-crossing objects under the gravitational influence of planets was investigated. For orbits close to that of Comet 2P, the mean collision probabilities of Jupiter-crossing objects with the terrestrial planets were greater by two orders of magnitude than for some other comets. For initial orbital elements close to those of Comets 2P, 10P, 44P, and 113P, a few objects (<0.1%) got Earth-crossing orbits with semi-major axes a<2 AU and aphelion distances Q<4.2 AU and moved in such orbits for more than 1 Myr (up to tens or even hundreds of Myrs). Some of them even got inner-Earth orbits (Q<0.983 AU) and Aten orbits for millions of years. Most former trans-Neptunian objects that have typical near-Earth object orbits moved in such orbits for millions of years, so during most of this time they were extinct comets or disintegrated into mini-comets.
- Publication:
-
New Geometry of Nature: Mathematics
- Pub Date:
- 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003kaza.conf...94I
- Keywords:
-
- JUPITER-FAMILY COMETS;
- TRANS-NEPTUNIAN OBJECTS;
- TERRESTRIAL PLANETS;
- NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS;
- COLLISION PROBABILITIES