Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userThe magnetic coupling of planets and small bodies with a pulsars wind
82
0
0.0
(
0
)
Authors
Fabrice Mottez
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
We investigate the electromagnetic interaction of a relativistic stellar wind with a planet or a smaller body in orbit around a pulsar. This may be relevant to objects such as PSR B1257+12 and PSR B1620-26 that are expected to hold a planetary system, or to pulsars with suspected asteroids or comets. Most models of pulsar winds predict that, albeit highly relativistic, they are slower than Alfven waves. In that case, a pair of stationary Alfven waves, called Alfven wings (AW), is expected to form on the sides of the planet. The wings expand far into the pulsars wind and they could be strong sources of radio emissions. The Alfven wings would cause a significant drift over small bodies such as asteroids and comets.
rate research
Read More
We investigate the electromagnetic interaction of a relativistic stellar wind with a planet or a smaller body in orbit around the star. This may be relevant to objects orbiting a pulsar, such as PSR B1257+12 and PSR B1620-26 that are expected to hold a planetary system, or to pulsars with suspected asteroids or comets. We extend the theory of Alfven wings to relativistic winds. When the wind is relativistic albeit slower than the total Alfven speed, a system of electric currents carried by a stationary Alfvenic structure is driven by the planet or by its surroundings. For an Earth-like planet around a standard one second pulsar, the associated current can reach the same magnitude as the Goldreich-Julian current that powers the pulsars magnetosphere.
We investigate the electromagnetic interaction of a relativistic stellar wind with small bodies in orbit around the star. Based on our work on the theory of Alfven wings to relativistic winds presented in a companion paper, we estimate the force exerted by the associated current system on orbiting bodies and evaluate the resulting orbital drift. This Alfvenic structure is found to have no significant influence on planets or smaller bodies orbiting a millisecond pulsar. %influence on the orbit of bodies around a millisecond pulsar. On the timescale of millions of years, it can however affect the orbit of bodies with a diameter of 100 kilometres around standard pulsars with a period $P sim $1 s and a magnetic field $B sim 10^{8}$ T. Kilometer-sized bodies experience drastic orbital changes on a timescale of $10^4$ years.
Water content and the internal evolution of terrestrial planets and icy bodies are closely linked. The distribution of water in planetary systems is controlled by the temperature structure in the protoplanetary disk and dynamics and migration of planetesimals and planetary embryos. This results in the formation of planetesimals and planetary embryos with a great variety of compositions, water contents and degrees of oxidation. The internal evolution and especially the formation time of planetesimals relative to the timescale of radiogenic heating by short-lived 26Al decay may govern the amount of hydrous silicates and leftover rock-ice mixtures available in the late stages of their evolution. In turn, water content may affect the early internal evolution of the planetesimals and in particular metal-silicate separation processes. Moreover, water content may contribute to an increase of oxygen fugacity and thus affect the concentrations of siderophile elements within the silicate reservoirs of Solar System objects. Finally, the water content strongly influences the differentiation rate of the icy moons, controls their internal evolution and governs the alteration processes occurring in their deep interiors.
The aim of the chapter is to summarize our understanding of the compositional distribution across the different reservoirs of small bodies (main belt asteroids, giant planet trojans, irregular satellites of the giant planets, TNOs, comets). We then use this information to i) discuss current dynamical models (Nice and Grand Tack models), ii) mention possible caveats in these models if any, and iii) draw a preliminary version of the primordial compositional gradient across the solar system before planetary migrations occured. Note that the composition of both planetary satellites (the regular ones) and that of the transient populations (NEOs, centaurs) is not discussed here. We strictly focus on the composition of the main reservoirs of small bodies. The manuscripts objective is to provide a global and synthetic view of small bodies compositions rather than a very detailed one, for specific reviews regarding the composition of small bodies, see papers by Burbine (2014) for asteroids, Emery et al. (2015) for Jupiter trojans, Mumma and Charnley (2011) for comets, and Brown (2012) for KBOs.
Dynamical models of Solar System evolution have suggested that P-/D-type volatile-rich asteroids formed in the outer Solar System and may be genetically related to the Jupiter Trojans, the comets and small KBOs. Indeed, their spectral properties resemble that of anhydrous cometary dust. High-angular-resolution images of P-type asteroid (87) Sylvia with VLT/SPHERE were used to reconstruct its 3D shape, and to study the dynamics of its two satellites. We also model Sylvias thermal evolution. The shape of Sylvia appears flattened and elongated. We derive a volume-equivalent diameter of 271 +/- 5 km, and a low density of 1378 +/- 45 kg.m-3. The two satellites orbit Sylvia on circular, equatorial orbits. The oblateness of Sylvia should imply a detectable nodal precession which contrasts with the fully-Keplerian dynamics of the satellites. This reveals an inhomogeneous internal structure, suggesting that Sylvia is differentiated. Sylvias low density and differentiated interior can be explained by partial melting and mass redistribution through water percolation. The outer shell would be composed of material similar to interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and the core similar to aqueously altered IDPs or carbonaceous chondrite meteorites such as the Tagish Lake meteorite. Numerical simulations of the thermal evolution of Sylvia show that for a body of such size, partial melting was unavoidable due to the decay of long-lived radionuclides. In addition, we show that bodies as small as 130-150 km in diameter should have followed a similar thermal evolution, while smaller objects, such as comets and the KBO Arrokoth, must have remained pristine, in agreement with in situ observations of these bodies. NASA Lucy mission target (617) Patroclus (diameter~140 km) may, however, be differentiated.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
