Invisible structures created by the gravitational interaction in the solar system have formed the “space superhighway” network, astronomers have discovered.
These channels enable rapid travel of objects through space, and can be used for our own space exploration purposes, as well as for the study of comets and asteroids.
Using analysis on both observation and simulation data, a team of researchers led by Natia Todorovis of the Belgrade Astronomical Observatory observed that these superheroes have a series of arches attached within these invisible structures, each called a space manifold. Manifolds, together with what researchers call the “true celestial autobahn”.
In the decades from Jupiter to Neptune, this network can transport objects in the order of millions of years, typically found in the solar system.
Finding hidden formats in space is not always easy, but helpful clues can be found by looking at the way things move. In particular, comets and asteroids.
There are many groups of rocky bodies at different distances from the sun. There are Jupiter-family comets (JFCs) that have an orbit of less than 20 years, which do not extend beyond Jupiter’s orbit.
Centaurs are icy parts of rocks that hang between Jupiter and Neptune. And trans-Neptune objects (TNOs) are those that are farthest from the solar system, orbiting Neptune.
To model the routes connecting these zones, ending in TNOs transition by centurion category and as JFC, the timescale could range from 10,000 to billions of years. But a recent paper has identified an orbital entrance connected to Jupiter, which rules the passages of JFC and Centaurs.
Although it did not mention the range range point in the paper, it is known that these regions of relative gravitational stability, created by the interaction between two rotating bodies (in this case, Jupiter and the Sun), can produce manifolds. So Todorovia and his team began an investigation.
They used a tool called Fast Liapnov Indicator (FLI), which is commonly used to detect chaos. Since the chaos of the solar system is linked to the existence of stable and unstable manifolds, in the short term, the FIA The applied dynamic model can capture traces of manifolds, both static and unstable.
“Here,” the researchers wrote in their paper, “we use FLI to detect the presence and global structure of space manifolds, and to capture the volatility operating on the orbital time scales, meaning we use this sensitive and well-established statistical tool.” To define areas of rapid transport in the solar system. “
They collected statistics on millions of orbits in the Solar System, and calculated how these orbits fit well-known manifolds, by modeling the accusations generated by the seven major planets from Venus to Neptune.
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And they discovered that at increasing heliocentric distances, the most prominent arches are connected to Jupiter; And most with its Langrange Point manifolds. All Jovian nearest encounters, made using test particles, were visited near the first and second luggage points of Jupiter.
Then a few dozen or more particles flew along the path colliding with the planet; But, as many as 3,000 in large numbers became hypersensitive from the orbit around the Sun, allowing hyperbolic escape to enter orbit. On average, these particles reached Uranus and Neptune after 38 and 46 years, respectively, the fastest reaching Neptune in a decade.
The majority – about 70 percent – reached a distance of 100 astronomical units (Pluto’s average orbital distance is 39.5 astronomical units) in less than a century.
Jupiter’s vast influence is not surprising. Jupiter is the largest object in the solar system, except the Sun. Researchers have found that similar structures will be created by all the planets, at the same period of their orbital periods.
This new understanding can help us better understand how comets and asteroids revolve around the inner solar system and their potential threats to Earth. And, of course, future solar system research missions have the above benefits.
But, to avoid these collision courses, we may need to improve on how this gateway works; And it won’t be easy.
“A study of the more detailed parameters of the phase-space structure discovered … can provide a deeper understanding of the transport between the two belts of the smaller body and the terrestrial planetary field,” the researchers wrote in their paper.
“Combining observations, theory, and simulation, will improve our current understanding of this short-term mechanism of action on TNO, centurion, comet, and planetary populations, and merge these fears with a traditional range of long-term chaotic propagation through orbital echoes; . “
Research has been published in Science progress.
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