Origins of the Irregular Satellites of Jupiter: Capture mechanisms and their plausibility under the known Solar System evolution scenarios

• Grant number: 13/18814-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: November 01, 2013
• End date: October 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Positional Astronomy and Celestial Mechanics
• Principal Investigator: Othon Cabo Winter
• Grantee: Helton da Silva Gaspar
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FEG). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Guaratinguetá. Guaratinguetá , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 11/08171-3 - Orbital dynamics of minor bodies, AP.TEM

Abstract

The irregular satellites of the giant planets are gravitational capture yields occurred after the planets formation. Although there exist several theories about the mentioned capture process, the amount of published papers about this issue decreased as it increased the acceptance of the model of capture during planetary encounters. However, this topic possess some open issues, as instance i) which phenomena may have given origin to the known families of irregular satellites. ii) No theory addresses the evidence of some satellites of Jupiter be originated from the Hilda's family of the Main Belt. Furthermore, iii) the well established model of capture of satellites during planetary encounters has not yet been corroborated for the case of Jupiter's irregular satellites, in special under the Jumping-Jupiter scenario. Finally, iv) no study addresses the implications of the Grand Tack scenario over the origins of irregular satellites both of Jupiter as Saturn. Such issues imply constraints on the Solar System formation and evolution process, and are the kernel of the present research project. Consequently, the results are expected to give significant contribution to the current knowledge of the Solar System, being of substantial interest of the scientific community.