Any asteroids easily thrown sunwards by a gas giant?

[kelvinzero]

Hi,<br />Are there any family of asteroids or comets that could with minimum effort have their orbits tweeked to skim past the sun, eg by slingshotting around a gas giant?<br /><br />If so, how long would the asteroid's trip take, and what typical sort of delta v would be required?<br />

 

[MeteorWayne]

Asteroids can (and have been) thrown in toward the sun, out to the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud, and out of the solar system entirely by interactions with the planets (mostly Jupiter, since the SS is the Sun, Jupiter, and some rubble).<br />The amount of time it takes can vary from a few dozen years to millions of years, depending on the velocity change, and shift in orbital alignment. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[billslugg]

Most all of the asteroids that could be deflected have probably already done so. Anything that still gets close to any of the large bodies is probably in resonance with it.<br /><br />In large part it depends upon what you mean by "minor tweaking". Another way to ask the question:<br />What is the minimum energy required to put a valuable asteroid in orbit around the Earth?<br />Does man have that capability? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[h2ouniverse]

It is clear that the rate of alteration of orbital parameters is far slower now than at the beginning of the Solar system. <br />But imho it is still more significant than commonly thought... Constancy is always an illusion. Remember Shoemaker-Levy 9. And see this asteroid whcih will most probably undergo a huge deviation by Mars end January (if it does not crash).<br /><br />Best regards.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Which asteroid? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[h2ouniverse]

2005WD5. You posted on the relevant thread...

 

[MeteorWayne]

no problem, you just didn't identify which rock you were talking about. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[kelvinzero]

Hi, I just wanted to clarify that Im not talking about parking it around earth but actually skimming the sun for smelting reasons, and leaving the sun on a trajectory to be captured by jupiter later. This is a scenario for the future, probably more than a century from now.<br /><br />So by small amounts of energy, what I really mean is much less energy than it would take to just smelt the rock on the spot.<br /><br />Im guessing the trojan asteroids would not be good candidates because even if you nudged them towards jupiter they wouldnt approach with a different enough velocity to throw them actually at the sun.<br /><br />Also, ideally I'd like the rock to contain some ice... perhaps the main belt rocks that stray close to jupiter also stray closer in, and tend to be dry?<br /><br />There are also comets I suppose. What about waiting on jupiter's L2 lagrange point for a rock already aimed roughly sunwards, close enough to jupiter to reaim. How often would there be a candidate?<br />

 

[alokmohan]

Precise reply.Congrats.

 

[keermalec]

I would say comets and Jupiter-crossing asteroids are your best bet. There are several dozen known objects fitting the description.<br /><br />One could imagine choosing such an object and deflecting it using low-thrust techniques years before it crossed Jupiter's path, in order to make it come closer to the planet than it would normally do, thence deflecting it towards the sun.<br /><br />I don't get what you want to do with it once it has been partly vaporised by the sun, though. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>“An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.” John F. Kennedy</em></p> </div>

 

[kelvinzero]

Thanks! that looks like a useful list.<br /><br />The aim is really just to get a lot more solar energy, not actually skim the sun. I imagine you would focus on volatiles initially, then move on to metals as the energy increased.<br /><br />I have been trying to think of reasons why you would actually skim the sun.. perhaps aero braking if you wished to deliver it to the inner solar system? Another reason might be just to store up energy. If you turn an asteroid into a ball of magma it would probably take a very long time to cool down.<br /><br />It would certainly make the process a bit more interesting <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />