Gas drag in primordial circumplanetary envelopes: A mechanism for satellite capture

Pollack, James B.; Burns, Joseph A.; Tauber, Michael E.

doi:10.1016/0019-1035(79)90016-2

Cited by 214 publications

(199 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…However, by comparing the lightcurves of 6 Jovian irregular satellites and 14 Trojan asteroids Luu (1991) found that the satellites lack the extreme shapes of the Trojans. The physical properties of the large Jovian irregular satellites are generally consistent with, but do not prove, the capture origin theory proposed by Pollack et al (1979).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Photometric survey of the irregular satellites

Grav

Holman

Gladman

et al. 2003

Icarus

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We present BVRI colors of 13 Jovian and 8 Saturnian irregular satellites obtained with the 2.56m Nordic Optical Telescope on La Palma, the 6.5m Magellan Baade Telescope on La Campanas, and the 6m MMT on Mt. Hopkins. The observations were performed between December 2001 to March 2002. Nearly all of the known irregular satellites can be divided into two distinct classes based on their colors. One, the grey color class, has the similar colors to the C-type asteroid, and the other, the light red color class, has colors similar to P/D-type asteroids. We also find at least one object, the Jovian irregular J XXIII Kalyke, that has colors similar to the red colored Centaurs/TNOs, although its classification is unsecure.We find that there is a correlation between the physical properties and dynamical To which of these two clusters the remaining Saturnian irregulars with inclinations close to 174• belong is not clear from our analysis, but determination of their colors should help constrain this.We also show through analysis of possible fragmentation and dispersion of the six known Uranian irregulars that they most likely make up two clusters, one centered on U XVI Caliban and another centered on U XVII Sycorax. We further show that, although -4 -the two objects have similar colors, a catastrophic fragmentation event creating one cluster containing both U XVI Caliban and U XVII Sycorax would have involved a progenitor with a diameter of ∼ 395km. While such an event is not impossible it seems rather improbable, and further we show that such an event would leave 5-6 fragments with sizes comparable or lager than U XVI Caliban. Given that the stable region around Uranus has been extensively searched to limiting magnitudes far beyond that of U XVI Caliban. The fact that only U XVI Caliban and the larger U XVII Sycorax have been found leaves us with a distribution not compatible with a catastrophic event with such a large progenitor. The most likely solution is therefore two separate events creating two Uranian dynamical clusters.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Photometric survey of the irregular satellites

Grav

Holman

Gladman

et al. 2003

Icarus

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“…In contrast, the ejection speeds of large fragments produced by catastrophic collisions do not generally exceed $100 m s À1 (Michel et al 2001). Ć uk & Burns (2004) adapted (1) (originally proposed by Pollack et al 1979) to a realistic structure of the circumplanetary gas disk around a nearly formed Jupiter (e.g., Lubow et al 1999). They found that the gas drag provides a plausible explanation for the progenitor of the (Himalia) group of prograde irregular satellites at Jupiter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…It has been suggested that irregular satellites were captured from heliocentric orbits (1) via dissipation of their orbital energy by gas drag (Pollack et al 1979;Ć uk & Burns 2004;Kortenkamp 2005), (2) by collisions between planetesimals (Colombo & Franklin 1971), or (3) by so-called pull-down capture, in which the planet's gradual growth leads to a capture of objects from the 1:1 mean motion resonance with the planet (Heppenheimer & Porco 1977). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capture of Irregular Satellites during Planetary Encounters

2007

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More than 90 irregular moons of the Jovian planets have recently been discovered. These moons are an enigmatic part of the solar system inventory. Their origin, which is intimately linked with the origin of the planets themselves, has yet to be adequately explained. Here we investigate the possibility that the irregular moons were captured from the circumsolar planetesimal disk by three-body gravitational reactions. These reactions may have been a frequent occurrence during the time when the outer planets migrated within the planetesimal disk. We propose a new model for the origin of irregular satellites in which these objects are captured from the planetesimal disk during encounters between the outer planets themselves in the model for outer planet migration advocated by Tsiganis and collaborators. Through a series of numerical simulations we show that nearby planetesimals can be deflected into planet-bound orbits during close encounters between planets, and that the overall efficiency of this capture process is large enough to produce populations of observed irregular satellites at Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The orbits of captured objects are broadly similar to those of known distant satellites. Jupiter, which typically does not have close encounters with other planets in the model of Tsiganis and coworkers, must have acquired its irregular satellites by a different mechanism. Alternatively, the migration model should be modified to accommodate Jupiter's encounters. Moreover, we find that the original size-frequency distribution of the irregular moons must have significantly evolved by collisions to produce their present populations. Our new model may also provide a plausible explanation for the origin of Neptune's large moon Triton.

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“…It has a retrograde orbit, which suggests that it was captured by Saturn instead of being formed "in situ" (e.g. Pollack et al 1979). Moreover, Phoebe's composition is close to that derived from bodies such as Triton and Pluto, and differs from that of the regular satellites of Saturn; implying that Phoebe could be a captured body of the outer solar system (Johnson & Lunine 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Origin of craters on Phoebe: comparison withCassini’s data

Sisto

Brunini

2011

A&A

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Context. Phoebe is one of the irregular satellites of Saturn. The images taken by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft have allowed us to analyze its surface and the craters on it. Aims. We study the craters on Phoebe produced by both Centaur objects from the scattered disk (SD) and plutinos that have escaped from the 3:2 mean motion resonance with Neptune and compare our results with the observations by Cassini. Methods. We use previously developed simulations of trans-Neptunian objects and a method that allows us to derive the number of craters and the cratering rate on Phoebe.Results. We determine the number of craters and the largest crater on Phoebe produced by Centaurs in the present configuration of the solar system. We obtain a present normalized rate of encounters of Centaurs with Saturn ofḞ = 7.1 × 10 −11 per year, from which we can infer the current cratering rate on Phoebe for each crater diameter. Conclusions. Our study and comparison with observations suggest that the main crater features on Phoebe are unlikely to have been produced in the present configuration of the solar system but that they must have been created instead when the SD were depleted in the early solar system. If this is indeed what happened and the craters were produced when Phoebe was a satellite of Saturn, then it must have been captured, very early on in the evolution of the solar system.

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Gas drag in primordial circumplanetary envelopes: A mechanism for satellite capture

Cited by 214 publications

References 31 publications

Photometric survey of the irregular satellites

Photometric survey of the irregular satellites

Capture of Irregular Satellites during Planetary Encounters

Origin of craters on Phoebe: comparison withCassini’s data

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