Statistical and Evolutionary Aspects of Cometary Orbits

Abstract

The observed frequency of passages of Earth-crossing long-period (LP) comets (P > 200 yr) is about three per year for comets brighter than absolute magnitude H10 ~ 10.5. About one out of six LP comets is estimated to be new, i.e., making its first passage through the inner planetary region. The sample of observed LP comets shows an excess of retrograde orbits that may be accounted for by the shorter dynamical lifetimes of comets on direct orbits due to planetary perturbations. The original semimajor axes of new comets concentrate in the range 7 × 103 ≳ a orig ≳ 4 × 104 AU, which tells us about the region of the Oort cloud where forces other than planetary perturbations act with the greatest efficiency. Yet the distribution of original semimajor axes cannot tell us anything about the existence of a dense inner core of the Oort cloud. Besides planetary perturbations, passing stars, molecular clouds and the galactic tidal force also influence the dynamical evolution of Oort cloud comets. The observed distribution of the aphelion points of near-parabolic comets shows such a dependence on the galactic latitude. Molecular clouds and stars penetrating very deeply in the Oort cloud are found to give rise to major enhancements in the influx rate of new comets, known as comet showers, at average intervals of a few 107 yr.