Ejection of rocky and icy material from binary star systems: Implications for the origin and composition of 1I/'Oumuamua

Alan P. Jackson, Daniel Tamayo, Noah Hammond, Mohamad Ali-Dib, Hanno Rein

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    In single-star systems like our own Solar system, comets dominate the mass budget of bodies ejected into interstellar space, since they form further away and are less tightly bound. However, 1I/'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object detected, appears asteroidal in its spectra and lack of detectable activity. We argue that the galactic budget of interstellar objects like 1I/'Oumuamua should be dominated by planetesimal material ejected during planet formation in circumbinary systems, rather than in single-star systems or widely separated binaries. We further show that in circumbinary systems, rocky bodies should be ejected in comparable numbers to icy ones. This suggests that a substantial fraction of interstellar objects discovered in future should display an active coma. We find that the rocky population, of which 1I/'Oumuamua seems to be a member, should be predominantly sourced from A-type and late B-star binaries.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)L49-L53
    JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
    Volume478
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Jul 1 2018

    Keywords

    • binaries: general
    • minor planets, asteroids: general
    • minor planets, asteroids: individual: 1I/2017 U1 ('Oumuamua)
    • planetary systems
    • planets and satellites: formation

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Astronomy and Astrophysics
    • Space and Planetary Science

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