Ejection of rocky and icy material from binary star systems: implications for the origin and composition of 1I/`Oumuamua
Abstract
In single-star systems like our own Solar system, comets dominate the mass budget of bodies ejected into interstellar space, since they form further away and are less tightly bound. However, 1I/`Oumuamua, the first interstellar object detected, appears asteroidal in its spectra and lack of detectable activity. We argue that the galactic budget of interstellar objects like 1I/`Oumuamua should be dominated by planetesimal material ejected during planet formation in circumbinary systems, rather than in single-star systems or widely separated binaries. We further show that in circumbinary systems, rocky bodies should be ejected in comparable numbers to icy ones. This suggests that a substantial fraction of interstellar objects discovered in future should display an active coma. We find that the rocky population, of which 1I/`Oumuamua seems to be a member, should be predominantly sourced from A-type and late B-star binaries.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- July 2018
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnrasl/sly033
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1712.04435
- Bibcode:
- 2018MNRAS.478L..49J
- Keywords:
-
- minor planets;
- asteroids: general;
- asteroids: individual: 1I/2017 U1 (`Oumuamua);
- planets and satellites: formation;
- binaries: general;
- planetary systems;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 5 pages, 2 figures. accepted in MNRAS Letters, updated with reviewer comments