2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
A New Planet in the Solar System? Investigating the Role of Undiscovered Planets on the Formation and Evolution of the Kuiper Belt in the Outer Solar System
| Project/Area Number |
20K04049
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| Research Institution | Kindai University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | 太陽系 / 太陽系外縁天体 / カイパーベルト / 未知の惑星 / solar system / trans-Neptunian objects / Kuiper Belt / undiscovered planets |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
This research has two main goals: (1) How does a Kuiper Belt Planet (KBP) located beyond Neptune perturb the orbits of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs)? (2) The Kuiper Belt orbital structure by considering the existence of KBPs in the early solar system. The main achievements so far are:
- A model of TNOs representing the real Kuiper Belt including resonant and outer populations was completed in FY2021. This model will be used to validate the results of all simulations performed in this project.
- A model that considered 41 combinations of masses and orbits of potential KBPs was completed in April 2022. Overall, KBPs should be located beyond 100 astronomical units and have masses comparable to Mars-Earth to allow the survival of observed populations.
By combining the two models above, I am currently analyzing the data that will yield the results to fulfill main goal (1).
- A model including the evolution of the early solar system and the formation of small body populations in the Kuiper Belt including and not including KBPs was developed during FY2021. Currently, the simulations of this model are running and should finish by mid-year of 2022. The data from these simulations will provide the results to address main goal (2).
In conclusion, as planned, the full achievement of main goal (2) will be obtained in FY2022.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
I am currently doing the final analysis concerning main goal (1) of this project. First, after performing several N-body simulations that considered real trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) under the influence of Kuiper Belt planets (KBPs), I obtained a large amount of simulation data. I am currently analysing this data.
At the moment (4/2022), the simulations that will yield the results needed to fulfill main goal (2) have been running for several months. A part of these simulations has already finished, while the remaining ones should finish within a few months from now.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The data of N-body computer simulations related to main goal (1) are available for analysis. From now on I intend to test which specific KBP models (in terms of KBP's orbit and mass) are capable of satisfying the observational constraints of such TNOs. This will include comparison with TNOs on peculiar orbits (such as the object Sedna) and distributions of distances and inclinations using the OSSOS observational simulator. Then, I will summarize the main results related to this goal and write the first research paper about these results early 2023.
I expect the simulations related to main goal (2) of this project to finish in early FY2022. Because a number of these simulations have already finished, I intend to start the preliminary analysis of the data during this year. Further data analysis will be done after all the simulations are done during 2022.
Finally, as planned, having all the data collected and analysed by the end of FY2022, I should be able to present the main results of this project during the first semester of 2023.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The original plan for FY2021 was to present the preliminary results of this research in national and international meetings. However, similarly to FY2020, unfortunately the coronavirus situation did not allow such meetings to be held face to face, so that it was impossible to allocate costs to expenses of travel, hotel, etc. This forced me to change the plan.
To allow a smoother analysis of the research data and minimize the problem caused by the coronavirus situation, I acquired a new workstation. Despite that, I followed the original plan and presented preliminary results of this research in two national and one international meetings (all held online). Because it was difficult to predict the costs in the circumstances aforementioned, a small value of FY2021 budget remained unused.
In FY2022, I hope to use the remaining budget to join face to face national and international meetings in addition to what is already planned for the same period.
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