The mass budget necessary to explain ‘Oumuamua as a nitrogen iceberg

Siraj, Amir; Loeb, Abraham

doi:10.1016/j.newast.2021.101730

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Poisson statistics imply that there is a ∼ 6% chance that LSST will not discover any 'Oumuamua-like objects, and that there is a ∼ 20% chance that LSST will discover only one 'Oumuamualike object in the first three years of operation. Siraj & Loeb (2019) found that q ∼ 3.5 may be implied by the detection of CNEOS 2014-01-08, which corresponds to ∼ 50 objects with H ∼ 25 over LSST's lifetime, with a 95% Poisson confidence interval of 1.3-280.…”

Section: Flux-limited Regimementioning

confidence: 94%

Physical Considerations for an Intercept Mission to a 1I/’Oumuamua-Like Interstellar Object

Siraj¹,

Loeb²,

Moro‐Martín³

et al. 2023

J. Astron. Instrum.

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In this paper, we review some of the extant literature on the study of interstellar objects (ISOs). With the forthcoming Vera C. Rubin Telescope and Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), we find that 0.38−84 'Oumuamua-like interstellar objects are expected to be detected in the next 10 years, with 95% confidence. The feasibility of a rendezvous trajectory has been demonstrated in previous work. In this paper, we investigate the requirements for a rendezvous mission with the primary objective of producing a resolved image of an interstellar object. We outline the rendezvous distances necessary as a function of resolution elements and object size. We expand upon current population synthesis models to account for the size dependency on the detection rates for reachable interstellar objects. We assess the trade-off between object diameter and occurrence rate, and conclude that objects with the size range between a third of the size and the size of 'Oumuamua will be optimal targets for an imaging rendezvous. We also discuss expectations for surface properties and spectral features of interstellar objects, as well as the benefits of various spacecraft storage locations.

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Section: Flux-limited Regimementioning

confidence: 94%

Physical Considerations for an Intercept Mission to a 1I/’Oumuamua-Like Interstellar Object

Siraj¹,

Loeb²,

Moro‐Martín³

et al. 2023

J. Astron. Instrum.

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“…Seligman & Laughlin ( 2020 ) find that Oumuamua was more likely composed of H 2 ice, and Bergner & Seligman ( 2023 ) suggest that Oumuamua originated as an H2O-rich icy body planetesimal relic broadly similar to Solar System comets. Moreo v er, Siraj & Loeb ( 2021 ) study this theory by examining the mass budget in exo-Pluto planets necessary to produce a population of N 2 icebergs that would explain the detection of Oumuamua and find that stars would have to have a mass of heavy elements exceeding our knowledge of their composition. Only a small fraction of the mass of stars ends in exo-Plutos, making this scenario unlikely.…”

Section: S I M I L a R I T I E S W I T H P L U To A N D T R I To Nmentioning

confidence: 99%

N2/CO ratio in comets insensitive to orbital evolution

Anderson

Rousselot

Noyelles

et al. 2023

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Comets are seen as depleted in nitrogen compared to the protosolar value, but a small number exhibit significantly higher than typical N2/CO ratios: C/1908 R1 (Morehouse), C/1940 R2 (Cunningham), C/1947 S1 (Bester), C/1956 R1 (Arend-Roland), C/1957 P1 (Mrkos), C/1961 R1 (Humason), C/1969 Y1 (Bennett), C/1973 E1 (Kohoutek), C/1975 V1-A (West), C/1986 P1 (Wilson), C/1987 P1 (Bradfield), C/2001 Q4 (NEAT), C/2002 VQ94 (LINEAR), C/2016 R2 (PanSTARRS), and periodic comets 1P/Halley, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1, and 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. This study examines the composition and dynamical histories of these N2-‘rich’ comets to unearth insights into their formation processes. Using updated N2 fluorescence factors, we re-estimate the N2/CO ratios of this sample and find that they are consistent with the expected values for comets based on estimations of the protosolar nebula. These also often display larger nucleus sizes and show rapid tail morphology variations due to their ionic nature. Numerical simulations reveal no common dynamical history, suggesting that the N2/CO ratio is independent of the number of inner Solar System passages and that N2 is homogeneously distributed within these comets. These volatile-rich comets share an Oort Cloud origin which is consistent with their survival over the past 4.5 Gyr. Our study also suggests that there may be a bias using modern high-resolution spectrometers with narrow slits, which could potentially overlook the ion tail of comets. We advocate for the use of long-slit spectroscopy to potentially detect a wider range of N2-rich comets, thereby enriching our understanding of comet compositions and origins.

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‘Oumuamua and meta-empirical confirmation

Matarese

2022

Found Phys

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The mass budget necessary to explain ‘Oumuamua as a nitrogen iceberg

Cited by 9 publications

References 18 publications

Physical Considerations for an Intercept Mission to a 1I/’Oumuamua-Like Interstellar Object

Physical Considerations for an Intercept Mission to a 1I/’Oumuamua-Like Interstellar Object

N2/CO ratio in comets insensitive to orbital evolution

‘Oumuamua and meta-empirical confirmation

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