Trans-Neptunian Objects and Comets: Saas-Fee Advanced Course 35. Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy (Saas-Fee Advanced Courses)

In The Last Two Decades Of The 20th Century, We Obtained Our First Detailed Look At A Cometary Nucleus And Detected Objects In The Kuiper-edgeworth Belt For The First Time. These Two Observations Have Resulted In A Major Leap Forward In Our Understanding Of Small Bodies In Our Solar System. Combined With Powerful New Approaches To The Study Of Solar System Dynamics, Progress Within The Last 20 Years Has Been Staggering. This Book Attempts To Synthesize These New Findings In A Manner Which Is Readable For New Graduate Students In The Field. Kuiper Belt And Comets: An Observational Perspective -- Comets And Their Reservoirs: Current Dynamics And Primordial Evolution -- Comets. D. Jewitt, A. Morbidelli, H. Rauer. Lectures Presented At The 35th Saas Fee Winter School, 13-18 March 2005. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. 3540719571......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 1 Preamble......Page 11 1.1 The Conduct of Research into the Subject......Page 12 2.1 Protoplanetary Disk......Page 15 2.2 The Three Domains......Page 19 3 Cometary Nuclei......Page 36 3.1 Mantles......Page 48 4.1 Kuiper Belt Physical Properties: Colors and Albedos......Page 57 4.2 Kuiper Belt Physical Properties: Spectra......Page 63 4.3 Kuiper Belt Physical Properties: Shapes, Spins......Page 66 4.4 Kuiper Belt Physical Properties: Multiple Objects......Page 67 4.5 Kuiper Belt Physical Properties: Densities......Page 69 4.6 Centaurs......Page 72 4.7 Irregular Satellites......Page 73 4.8 Trojans......Page 78 References......Page 82 Comets and Their Reservoirs: Current Dynamics and Primordial Evolution......Page 89 1.1 Brief Tutorial on Orbital Dynamics......Page 90 1.2 The Structure of the Trans-Neptunian Population......Page 94 1.3 Dynamics in the Kuiper Belt......Page 103 1.4 Note on the Scattered Disk......Page 110 2 The Dynamics of Comets......Page 111 2.1 Origin and Evolution of Jupiter Family Comets......Page 114 2.2 Origin and Evolution of Long-Period Comets......Page 118 2.3 Note on Halley-Type Comets......Page 123 2.4 The Fate of Faded Comets......Page 125 3 The Formation of the Oort Cloud......Page 127 3.1 Problems with the Classical Scenario......Page 132 3.2 Oort Cloud Formation in a Dense Galactic Environment......Page 134 4 The Primordial Sculpting of the Kuiper Belt......Page 137 4.1 The Origin of the Resonant Populations......Page 138 4.2 The Origin of the Hot Population......Page 140 4.3 The Origin of the Outer Edge of the Kuiper Belt......Page 142 4.4 The Mass Deficit of the Cold Population......Page 144 4.5 Pushing out the Kuiper Belt......Page 148 5 Origin of the Late Heavy Bombardment of the Terrestrial Planets......Page 149 6 Building a Coherent View of Solar System History: Perspectives for Future Work......Page 161 References......Page 164 1 Introduction......Page 174 2.1 General Overview......Page 177 2.2 Gas Sublimation and Nucleus Differentiation......Page 179 2.3 Observations of Gas Activity Evolution......Page 184 3.1 Dynamics of the Neutral Coma......Page 191 3.2 Dynamics in the Outer Coma and Neutral Gas Tails......Page 209 3.3 Dynamics of Dust Tails......Page 210 3.4 Dynamics of Ion Tails......Page 213 4 Emission Excitation in the Gas Coma......Page 217 4.1 Resonance Fluorescence......Page 221 4.2 Prompt Emission......Page 222 4.4 Excitation of Rotational and Vibrational Transitions......Page 223 5 Chemical Processes in the Coma......Page 225 5.1 Chemistry of Some Frequently Observed Species......Page 228 6.1 Simple Coma Models......Page 233 6.2 Abundance Ratios and Compositional Differences among Comets......Page 235 6.3 Compositional Differences Among Comets......Page 239 6.4 Isotopic Ratios......Page 240 7 Dust Particles......Page 242 7.1 Composition......Page 243 7.2 Size Distribution......Page 245 7.3 The Dust Production Rate......Page 247 8 Outlook......Page 249 References......Page 251 Acknowledgments......Page 264 K......Page 266 V......Page 267 "In the last two decades of the 20th century, we obtained our first detailed look at a cometary nucleus and detected objects in the Kuiper-Edgeworth Belt for the first time. These two observations have resulted in a major leap forward in our understanding of small bodies in our Solar System. Combined with powerful new approaches to the study of Solar System dynamics, progress within the last 20 years has been staggering. This book attempts to synthesize these new findings in a manner which is readable for new graduate students in the field."--Jacket The study of the Solar system, particularly of its newly discovered outer parts, is one of the hottest topics in modern astrophysics with great potential for revealing fundamental clues about the origin of planets and even the emergence of life. The three lecturers of the 35th Saas-Fee Advanced Course, which have been updated and collected in this volume, cover the field from observational, theoretical and numerical perspectives.