In Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 691 Nov. 2024:
Fiore, F. Matteucci, F. Spitoni, E. et al. A census of the Sun’s ancestors and their contributions to the Solar System chemical composition A46 202451076
Hajduková, M. Stober, G. Barghini, D. et al. No evidence for interstellar fireballs in the CNEOS database A8 202449569
Kretlow, M. Ortiz, J. L. Desmars, J. et al. Physical properties of trans-Neptunian object (143707) 2003 UY117 derived from stellar occultation and photometric observations A31 202451329
Gabryszewski, R. Wajer, P. Włodarczyk, I. Main-belt comets as contributors to the near-Earth objects population A130 202347278
Wang, Q. Cheng, B. Baoyin, H. Piao, Y. LBM-DEM modeling of particle-fluid interactions on active small solar bodies A265 202449759
Zeng, X. Tang, H. Li, X. et al. Depth profiling of implanted D+ in silicates: Contribution of solar wind protons to water in the Moon and terrestrial planets A275 202450879
Zhao, S. Lei, H. Shi, X. Deep operator neural network applied to efficient computation of asteroid surface temperature and the Yarkovsky effect A224 202451789
Cloete, R. Vereš, P. Loeb, A. Machine learning methods for automated interstellar object classification with LSST A338 202451118
I told you meteoriticists drill deep. Here’s a bigger picture: via multiple lines of evidence, we have chemical and other details of the Sun’s birth environment, and the impact it had on the Solar System’s chemical makeup.
We have two confirmed Interstellar Objects so far: ‘Oumuamua, and Borisov. Do we actually have others, in the form of meteorites (lost, or otherwise)? Hadjuková et al. claim no, the catalog of tracked fireball entries into our atmosphere seems all explainable by Solar System origins of Solar System objects.
We love data- we need to characterize Solar System bodies as more than just dots in the sky. Kretlow et al. do so for a TNO (Trans-Neptunian Object), but the processes are all applicable to Main Belters, NEOs, etc.
And speaking of Main Belters, we know all NEOs are, directly or indirectly, from somewhere else. An object cannot last in a NEO orbit for the age of the Solar System; it must have come from that somewhere else. In the case of Main-Belt Comets (Comets in relatively circular, relatively close orbits vs. the stereotype), does the jetting of volatiles allow a M-B C to transfer into the inner Solar System, and become a NEO? The answer is apparently yes- adding this thrust, small as it may be, mixes up the NEO picture. A picture with ‘comets’ appearing as asteroids. Again.
…and speaking of comets, Wang et al. gauge the ‘blowing’ of trace winds on small bodies. Using the lattice Boltzmann method-discrete element method (or LBM-DEM), they can explain dust and rocks seen on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko rather well.
Water. Water, water everywhere. Since the solar wind is blowing hydrogen everywhere, an oxygen-containing target (like silicates, SiO4 tetrads) will at some point get irradiated into water. But what about deuterium, an important tracer isotope? We need to know how the slightly-different deuterium ion behaves, to recreate water and its history in the Solar System.
And again with the AI. Here, the problem is analytical and not that open-ended; what’s the thermal response of asteroids? Tackling the question with AI can be checked against observations (warm vs. ‘hot’ asteroids, and in time, the Yarkovsky drift), so there’s a stop or check on this.
Finally, more AI, but this one barely qualifies in my view: algorithms to determine ‘orbits’ for Vera Rubin (previously “LSST”) discoveries, or lack thereof. If an orbit solution turns out to be an open trajectory, congratulations, we have an interstellar object. Call Hadjuková et al.!