Late instability in the solar system

• Grant number: 15/18682-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2016
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Positional Astronomy and Celestial Mechanics
• Principal Investigator: Rodney da Silva Gomes
• Grantee: Rogerio Deienno
• Supervisor: Alessandro Morbidelli
• Host Institution: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil). São José dos Campos , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA), France
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/02013-5 - Orbital evolution of the asteroids in the first 700 MY of the solar system, BP.PD

Abstract

The planetary instability, as proposed by the most recent model of planetary migration, known as jumping-Jupiter, can explain many features of the evolution of the giants planets. This instability is characterized by the fact that the giants planets in the outer solar system, formed in a multi-resonant orbital configuration, underwent several close encounters with one another, after being pushed out of the resonant chains by the interactions with a massive planetesimal disk. These encounters cause the change of the radial distance of the planets measured from the Sun. With Jupiter moving inward and the other planets outward, the structures of the Asteroid Belt could be carved, together with the cratering history of the Moon, and some structures of the Kuiper belt (KB). These evolutive paths are directly linked to what is known as the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB), defined by the fact that the planetary instability occurred at late times (~400 My after the formation of the solar system). According to this late instability, when Neptune is thrown inside the planetesimal disk, a large number of planetesimals are launched towards the Sun, hitting the Moon and other planets. However, as in this process, Neptune's orbit achieve high eccentricity (e~0.4), some inconsistencies appear related to the forming KB (inclination of the cold classical group). To solve this problem, Nesvorny (2015) recent proposed that Uranus and Neptune should be formed in a non resonant initial configuration, with Neptune smoothy migrating outward over ~10 My (to beyond 25 AU) before the planetary instability. This, however, is hard to reconcile with formation models. Moreover, it is not clear if this configuration of planets would be consistent with the need for a late instability. Here, we will address to this problem, and check whether it is possible to delay for hundreds of My the moment when the resonant chain configuration of the planets is broken, allowing Neptune's semi-major axis to smoothly evolve outwards for several AUs before that the other giant planets become unstable. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DEIENNO, ROGERIO; GOMES, RODNEY S.; WALSH, KEVIN J.; MORBIDELLI, ALESSANDRO; NESVORNY, DAVID. Is the Grand Tack model compatible with the orbital distribution of main belt asteroids?. ICARUS, v. 272, p. 114-124, JUL 1 2016. (15/18682-6, 14/02013-5)

DEIENNO, ROGERIO; MORBIDELLI, ALESSANDRO; GOMES, RODNEY S.; NESVORNY, DAVID. Constraining the Giant Planets' Initial Configuration from Their Evolution: Implications for the Timing of the Planetary Instability. ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL, v. 153, n. 4, APR 2017. (14/02013-5, 15/18682-6)

GOMES, RODNEY; DEIENNO, ROGERIO; MORBIDELLI, ALESSANDRO. THE INCLINATION OF THE PLANETARY SYSTEM RELATIVE TO THE SOLAR EQUATOR MAY BE EXPLAINED BY THE PRESENCE OF PLANET 9. ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL, v. 153, n. 1, JAN 2017. (14/02013-5, 15/18682-6)