Two Distinct Populations of Dark Comets Delineated by Orbits and Sizes

[2412.07603] Two Distinct Populations of Dark Comets Delineated by Orbits and Sizes Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Search arXiv Press Enter to search · Advanced search Astrophysics > Earth and Planetary Astrophysics arXiv:2412.07603 (astro-ph) [Submitted on 10 Dec 2024] Title: Two Distinct Populations of Dark Comets Delineated by Orbits and Sizes Authors: Darryl Z. Seligman , Davide Farnocchia , Marco Micheli , Olivier R. Hainaut , Henry H. Hsieh , Adina D. Feinstein , Steven R. Chesley , Aster G. Taylor , Joseph Masiero , Karen J. Meech View a PDF of the paper titled Two Distinct Populations of Dark Comets Delineated by Orbits and Sizes, by Darryl Z. Seligman and 9 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: Small bodies are capable of delivering essential prerequisites for the development of life, such as volatiles and organics, to the terrestrial planets. For example, empirical evidence suggests that water was delivered to the Earth by hydrated planetesimals from distant regions of the Solar System. Recently, several morphologically inactive near-Earth objects (NEOs) were reported to experience significant nongravitational accelerations inconsistent with radiation-based effects, and possibly explained by volatile-driven outgassing. However, these "dark comets" display no evidence of comae in archival images, which are the defining feature of cometary activity. Here we report detections of nongravitational accelerations on seven additional objects previously classified as inactive (doubling the population) that could also be explainable by asymmetric mass loss. A detailed search of archival survey and targeted data rendered no detection of dust activity in any of these objects in individual or stacked images. We calculate dust production limits of $\sim10$, $0.1$, and $0.1$ kg s$^{-1}$ for 1998 FR$_{11}$, 2001 ME$_{1}$, and 2003 RM with these data, indicating little or no dust surrounding the objects during the observations. This set of dark comets reveals the delineation between two distinct populations: larger, "outer" dark comets on eccentric orbits that are end members of a continuum in activity level of comets, and smaller, "inner" dark comets on near-circular orbits that could signify a new population. These objects may trace various stages in the life cycle of a previously undetected, but potentially numerous, volatile-rich population that may have provided essential material to the Earth. Comments: 12 pages, 11 figures, Author's version of Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. Vol. 121 No. 51 published at this https URL Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) Cite as: arXiv:2412.07603 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2412.07603v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2412.07603 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Journal reference: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 121, 2024 Related DOI : https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2406424121 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Darryl Seligman [ view email ] [v1] Tue, 10 Dec 2024 15:43:53 UTC (1,008 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Two Distinct Populations of Dark Comets Delineated by Orbits and Sizes, by Darryl Z. Seligman and 9 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: astro-ph.EP < prev | next > new | recent | 2024-12 Change to browse by: astro-ph References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... 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