2006 SQ372: A Likely Long-Period Comet from the Inner Oort Cloud

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2009 · Astrophys.J.695:268-275,2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/695/1/268· OSTI ID:950882

Kaib, Nathan A; Becker, Andrew C; Jones, R Lynne; Puckett, Andrew W; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Dilday, Benjamin; Frieman, Joshua A; Oravetz, Daniel J; Pan, Kaike; Quinn, Thomas; Schneider, Donald P

We report the discovery of a minor planet (2006 SQ{sub 372}) on an orbit with a perihelion of 24 AU and a semimajor axis of 796 AU. Dynamical simulations show that this is a transient orbit and is unstable on a timescale of {approx}200 Myr. Falling near the upper semimajor axis range of the scattered disk and the lower semimajor axis range of the Oort Cloud, previous membership in either class is possible. By modeling the production of similar orbits from the Oort Cloud as well as from the scattered disk, we find that the Oort Cloud produces 16 times as many objects on SQ{sub 372}-like orbits as the scattered disk. Given this result, we believe this to be the most distant long-period comet (LPC) ever discovered. Furthermore, our simulation results also indicate that 2000 OO{sub 67} has had a similar dynamical history. Unaffected by the 'Jupiter-Saturn Barrier', these two objects are most likely LPCs from the inner Oort Cloud.

• Research Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-07CH11359
• OSTI ID: 950882
• Report Number(s): FERMILAB-PUB-09-080-A; arXiv eprint number arXiv:0901.1690
• Journal Information: Astrophys.J.695:268-275,2009, Journal Name: Astrophys.J.695:268-275,2009 Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 695; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
Astrophysics
CLOUDS
COMETS
PLANETS
PRODUCTION
SIMULATION
TRANSIENTS