Origin and Evolution of Short-Period Comets

TL;DR

This study uses simulations to explore the origins and evolution of short-period comets, considering the effects of hypothetical Planet 9 and comet activity models, and compares results with observations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive simulation-based analysis of comet origins, including the influence of Planet 9 and activity duration, aligning models with observed comet distributions.

Findings

Models without Planet 9 match the orbital distribution of ecliptic comets.

Inclination distribution of Halley-type comets is nearly isotropic.

Active lifetime parameter Np affects the population of observed comets.

Abstract

Comets are icy objects that orbitally evolve from the trans-Neptunian region (the Kuiper belt and beyond) into the inner Solar System, where they are heated by solar radiation and become active due to sublimation of water ice. Here we perform end-to-end simulations in which cometary reservoirs are formed in the early Solar System and evolved over 4.5 Gyr. The gravitational effects of Planet 9 (P9), hypothesized to circle the Sun on a wide orbit, are included in some of our simulations. Different models are considered for comets to be active, including a simple assumption that comets remain active for Np(q) perihelion passages with perihelion distance q<2.5 au. The orbital distribution and number of active comets produced in our model is compared to observations. The orbital distribution of ecliptic comets (ECs) is well reproduced in models with Np(2.5)=500 and without P9. With P9, the inclination distribution of model ECs is wider than the observed one. We find that the known Halley-type comets (HTCs) have a nearly isotropic inclination distribution (with only a slight preference for prograde orbits). In our model, the HTCs appear to be an extension of the population of returning Oort-cloud comets (OCCs) to shorter orbital periods. The inclination distribution of model HTCs becomes broader with increasing Np, but the existing observational data are not good enough to constrain Np from orbital fits. Np(2.5)>1000 is required to obtain a steady-state population of large active HTCs that is consistent with observations. To fit the ratio of the returning-to-new OCCs, by contrast, our model implies that Np(2.5)<10, possibly because the detected long-period comets are smaller and much easier to disrupt than observed HTCs.