NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Has Nemesis' orbit been detected?The orbital angular momenta of 126 very young comets are calculated from the orbital data of Marsden and Roemer (1982) and analyzed statistically. A large anisotropy is detected in a plane almost perpendicular to the ecliptic and shown to have a characteristic dissipation lifetime of 10-30 Myr. Dynamic evolution computations indicate that the impulse which produced the anisotropy is that of a very slow massive (10-90 Jupiter mass) body, which is bound to the solar system, passed its 15,000-35,000-AU perihelion about 2-15 Myr ago, and has period 5-50 Myr. It is suggested that this body could well be identical to Nemesis, the object proposed to explain mass faunal extinctions.
Document ID
19870024647
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Delsemme, A. H.
(Toledo, University OH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 13, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1986
Subject Category
Astronomy
Accession Number
87A11921
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-82-07435
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSG-7301
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available