What happens to interstellar objects captured by the solar system?

[notFritzArgelander]

https://phys.org/news/2021-09-interstel ... solar.html

[GCoyote]

I would have expected an encounter with at least one planet to be needed in order for the incoming ISO to lose enough energy to remain in the Solar System.
I'd like to see the results of a more detailed simulation on this topic. Very interesting.

[notFritzArgelander]

I would have expected an encounter with at least one planet to be needed in order for the incoming ISO to lose enough energy to remain in the Solar System.
I'd like to see the results of a more detailed simulation on this topic. Very interesting.

If the incoming objects velocity is low enough, then an encounter with a planet might not be necessary. Relaxation to stable orbit might proceed via tidal dissipation, for instance, for velocities slightly larger than the hyperbolic orbit threshold. The closer you get to that, the smaller the mass required for a capture encounter.

[GCoyote]

Thanks, I had not even consided tidal forces. The mental image we acquire in grade school of planetary objects as rigid billiard balls can be hard to shake.