Identifying Interstellar Objects Trapped in the Solar System through Their Orbital Parameters. (arXiv:1811.09632v1 [astro-ph.EP])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Siraj_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Amir Siraj</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Loeb_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Abraham Loeb</a>
The first interstellar object, `Oumuamua, was discovered in the Solar System
by Pan-STARRS in 2017, allowing for a calibration of the abundance of
interstellar objects of its size and an estimation of the subset of objects
trapped by the Jupiter-Sun system. Photographing or visiting these trapped
objects would allow for learning about the conditions in other planetary
systems, saving the need to send interstellar probes. Here, we explore the
orbital properties of captured interstellar objects in the Solar System using
dynamical simulations of the Jupiter-Sun system and random initial conditions.
We compare the resulting distributions of orbital elements to those of the most
similar population of known asteroids, namely Centaurs, to search for a
parameter space in which interstellar objects should dominate and therefore be
identifiable solely by their orbits. We find that there should be hundreds of
`Oumuamua-size interstellar objects identifiable by Centaur-like orbits in
polar or retrograde motion. We note four known objects that may be of
interstellar origin. Finally, we estimate that LSST will be able to detect
several tens of these objects.
The first interstellar object, `Oumuamua, was discovered in the Solar System
by Pan-STARRS in 2017, allowing for a calibration of the abundance of
interstellar objects of its size and an estimation of the subset of objects
trapped by the Jupiter-Sun system. Photographing or visiting these trapped
objects would allow for learning about the conditions in other planetary
systems, saving the need to send interstellar probes. Here, we explore the
orbital properties of captured interstellar objects in the Solar System using
dynamical simulations of the Jupiter-Sun system and random initial conditions.
We compare the resulting distributions of orbital elements to those of the most
similar population of known asteroids, namely Centaurs, to search for a
parameter space in which interstellar objects should dominate and therefore be
identifiable solely by their orbits. We find that there should be hundreds of
`Oumuamua-size interstellar objects identifiable by Centaur-like orbits in
polar or retrograde motion. We note four known objects that may be of
interstellar origin. Finally, we estimate that LSST will be able to detect
several tens of these objects.
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