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Dynamical Origin of Comets and Their Reservoirs

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Origin and Early Evolution of Comet Nuclei

Part of the book series: Space Sciences Series of ISSI ((SSSI,volume 28))

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Abstract

It is widely believed that cometary orbits contain important clues to both the outer solar system’s current structure and its past dynamical evolution. The first part of this paper summarizes the results of numerical simulations designed to study the dynamical origins of observed comets and to link the observed populations to the reservoirs from which they are currently leaking. The second part reviews simulations which are designed to study the dynamical origin of the reservoirs themselves. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the currently unresolved issue of where in the primordial solar nebula the different dynamical classes of observed comets originated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6

    Martin J. Duncan

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  1. Martin J. Duncan
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Correspondence to Martin J. Duncan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    H. Balsiger

  2. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    K. Altwegg

  3. Space Research Division, Southwest Research Institute (SWRI), San Antonio, TX, USA

    W. Huebner

  4. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

    T. Owen

  5. European Space Agency (ESA), Noordwijk, The Netherlands

    R. Schulz

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Duncan, M.J. (2008). Dynamical Origin of Comets and Their Reservoirs. In: Balsiger, H., Altwegg, K., Huebner, W., Owen, T., Schulz, R. (eds) Origin and Early Evolution of Comet Nuclei. Space Sciences Series of ISSI, vol 28. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-85455-7_7

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