The Galactic disk tidal field and the nonrandom distribution of observed Oort cloud comets

Journal Article · Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1989 · Icarus (International Journal of the Solar System); (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0019-1035(89)90046-8· OSTI ID:6955838

Matese, J J; Whitman, P G ^[1]

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1. Southwestern Louisiana Univ., Lafayette (USA)

If the perturbation arising in Galactic-Oort cometary cloud interactions is limited to the secularly averaged first-order disk tidal term, not only do analytic solutions for the temporal evolution of orbital elements become possible, but Monte Carlo techniques emerge as a basis for estimation of orbital element distributions for comets that become observable. It is presently shown that the nonrandomness detected in the galactic latitudes of perihelia is due to the physical effect of tidal perturbation, rather than to mere observational selection effects. 23 refs.

• OSTI ID: 6955838
• Journal Information: Icarus (International Journal of the Solar System); (USA), Vol. 82; ISSN 0019-1035
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COMETS
ORBITS
ANALYTICAL SOLUTION
GRAVITATIONAL INTERACTIONS
H1 REGIONS
MILKY WAY
MONTE CARLO METHOD
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
BASIC INTERACTIONS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
DISTRIBUTION
GALAXIES
INTERACTIONS
640107* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Planetary Phenomena