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Over the past three decades, we have witnessed one of the great revolutions in our understanding of the cosmos—the dawn of the Exoplanet Era. Where once we knew of just one planetary system (the solar system), we now know of thousands, with new systems being announced on a weekly basis. Of the thousands of planetary systems we have found to date, however, there is only one that we can study up-close and personal—the solar system. In this review, we describe our current understanding of the solar system for the exoplanetary science community—with a focus on the processes thought to have shaped the system we see today. In section one, we introduce the solar system as a single well studied example of the many planetary systems now observed. In section two, we describe the solar system's small body populations as we know them today—from the two hundred and five known planetary satellites to the various populations of small bodies that serve as a reminder of the system's formation and early evolution. In section three, we consider our current knowledge of the solar system's planets, as physical bodies. In section four we discuss the research that has been carried out into the solar system's formation and evolution, with a focus on the information gleaned as a result of detailed studies of the system's small body populations. In section five, we discuss our current knowledge of planetary systems beyond our own—both in terms of the planets they host, and in terms of the debris that we observe orbiting their host stars. As we learn ever more about the diversity and ubiquity of other planetary systems, our solar system will remain the key touchstone that facilitates our understanding and modeling of those newly found systems, and we finish section five with a discussion of the future surveys that will further expand that knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Centaurs – icy bodies orbiting beyond Jupiter and interior to Neptune – are believed to be dynamically related to Jupiter Family Comets (JFCs), which have aphelia near Jupiter's orbit and perihelia in the inner Solar system. Previous dynamical simulations have recreated the Centaur/JFC conversion, but the mechanism behind that process remains poorly described. We have performed a numerical simulation of Centaur analogues that recreates this process, generating a data set detailing over 2.6 million close planet/planetesimal interactions. We explore scenarios stored within that data base and, from those, describe the mechanism by which Centaur objects are converted into JFCs. Because many JFCs have perihelia in the terrestrial planet region, and since Centaurs are constantly resupplied from the Scattered Disc, the JFCs are an ever-present impact threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many ways, the HR 8799 planetary system strongly resembles our own. It features four giant planets and two debris belts, analogues to the Asteroid and Edgeworth-Kuiper belts. Here, we present the results of dynamical simulations of HR8799’s inner debris belt, to study its structure and collisional environment. Our results suggest that HR 8799’s inner belt is highly structured, with gaps between regions of dynamical stability. The belt is likely constrained between sharp inner and outer edges, located at ~6 and ~8 au, respectively. Its inner edge coincides with a broad gap cleared by the 4:1 mean-motion resonance with HR 8799e.Within the belt, planetesimals are undergoing a process of collisional attrition like that observed in the Asteroid belt. However, whilst the mean collision velocity in the Asteroid belt exceeds 5 km s−1, the majority of collisions within HR 8799’s inner belt occur with velocities of order 1.2 km s−1, or less. Despite this, they remain sufficiently energetic to be destructive – giving a source for the warm dust detected in the system. Interior to the inner belt, test particles remain dynamically unstirred, aside from narrow bands excited by distant high-order resonances with HR 8799e. This lack of stirring is consistent with earlier thermal modelling of HR 8799’s infrared excess, which predicted little dust inside 6 au. The inner system is sufficiently stable and unstirred that the formation of telluric planets is feasible, although such planets would doubtless be subject to a punitive impact regime, given the intense collisional grinding required in the inner belt to generate the observed infrared excess. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use the most up-to-date Milky Way model and solar orbit data in order to test the hypothesis that the Sun's galactic spiral arm crossings cause mass extinction events on Earth. To do this, we created a new model of the Milky Way's spiral arms by combining a large quantity of data from several surveys. We then combined this model with a recently derived solution for the solar orbit to determine the timing of the Sun's historical passages through the Galaxy's spiral arms. Our new model was designed with a symmetrical appearance, with the major alteration being the addition of a spur at the far side of the Galaxy. A correlation was found between the times at which the Sun crosses the spiral arms and six known mass extinction events. Furthermore, we identify five additional historical mass extinction events that might be explained by the motion of the Sun around our Galaxy. These five additional significant drops in marine genera that we find include significant reductions in diversity at 415, 322, 300, 145 and 33 Myr ago. Our simulations indicate that the Sun has spent ~60% of its time passing through our Galaxy's various spiral arms. Also, we briefly discuss and combine previous work on the Galactic Habitable Zone with the new Milky Way model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a detailed dynamical analysis of the orbital stability of the two circumbinary planets recently proposed to orbit the evolved eclipsing binary star system NSVS 14256825. As is the case for other recently proposed circumbinary planetary systems detected through the timing of mutual eclipses between the central binary stars, the proposed planets do not stand up to dynamical scrutiny. The proposed orbits for the two planets are extremely unstable on time-scales of less than a thousand years, regardless of the mutual inclination between the planetary orbits.For the scenario where the planetary orbits are coplanar, a small region of moderate stability was observed, featuring orbits that were somewhat protected from destabilization by the influence of mutual 2:1 mean-motion resonance between the orbits of the planets. Even in this stable region, however, the systems tested typically only survived on time-scales of the order of 1 Myr, far shorter than the age of the system.Our results suggest that if there are planets in the NSVS 14256825 system, they must move on orbits dramatically different to those proposed in the discovery work. More observations are clearly critically required in order to constrain the nature of the suggested orbital bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In 2009, the discovery of two planets orbiting the evolved binary star system HW Virginis (HW Vir) was announced, based on systematic variations in the timing of eclipses between the two stars. The planets invoked in that work were significantly more massive than Jupiter, and moved on orbits that were mutually crossing - an architecture which suggests that mutual encounters and strong gravitational interactions are almost guaranteed. In this work, we perform a highly detailed analysis of the proposed HW Vir planetary system. First, we consider the dynamical stability of the system as proposed in the discovery work. Through a mapping process involving 91 125 individual simulations, we find that the system is so unstable that the planets proposed simply cannot exist, due to mean lifetimes of less than a thousand years across the whole parameter space. We then present a detailed re-analysis of the observational data on HW Vir, deriving a new orbital solution that provides a very good fit to the observational data. Our new analysis yields a system with planets more widely spaced, and of lower mass, than that proposed in the discovery work, and yields a significantly greater (and more realistic) estimate of the uncertainty in the orbit of the outermost body. Despite this, a detailed dynamical analysis of this new solution similarly reveals that it also requires the planets to move on orbits that are simply not dynamically feasible. Our results imply that some mechanism other than the influence of planetary companions must be the principal cause of the observed eclipse timing variations for HW Vir. If the system does host exoplanets, they must move on orbits differing greatly from those previously proposed. Our results illustrate the critical importance of performing dynamical analyses as a part of the discovery process for multiple-planet exoplanetary systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We have performed a detailed dynamical study of the recently identified Neptunian Trojan 2004 KV18, only the second object to be discovered librating around Neptune's trailing Lagrange point, L5. We find that 2004 KV18 is moving on a highly unstable orbit, and was most likely captured from the Centaur population at some point in the last ∼1 Myr, having originated in the scattered disc, beyond the orbit of Neptune. The instability of 2004 KV18 is so great that many of the test particles studied leave the Neptunian Trojan cloud within just ∼0.1-0.3 Myr, and it takes just 37 Myr for half of the 91 125 test particles created to study its dynamical behaviour to be removed from the Solar system entirely. Unlike the other Neptunian Trojans previously found to display dynamical instability on 100-Myr time-scales (2001 QR322 and 2008 LC18), 2004 KV18 displays such extreme instability that it must be a temporarily captured Trojan, rather than a primordial member of the Neptunian Trojan population. As such, it offers a fascinating insight into the processes through which small bodies are transferred around the outer Solar system, and represents an exciting addition to the menagerie of the Solar system's small bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The post-main-sequence eclipsing binary NN Serpentis was recently announced as the potential host of at least two massive planetary companions. In that work, the authors put forward two potential architectures that fit the observations of the eclipsing binary with almost identical precision. In this work, we present the results of a dynamical investigation of the orbital stability of both proposed system architectures, finding that they are only stable for scenarios in which the planets are locked in mutual mean motion resonance. In the discovery work, the authors artificially fixed the orbital eccentricity of the more massive planet, NN Ser (AB) c, at 0. Here, we reanalyse the observational data on NN Serpentis without this artificial constraint, and derive a new orbital solution for the two proposed planets. We detail the results of further dynamical simulations investigating the stability of our new orbital solution, and find that allowing a small non-zero eccentricity for the outer planet renders the system unstable. We conclude that although the original orbits proposed for the NN Serpentis planetary system prove dynamically feasible, further observations of the system are vital in order to better constrain the system's true architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many years, it has been assumed that Jupiter has prevented the Earth from being subject to a punishing impact regime that would have greatly hindered the development of life. Here, we present the fourth in a series of dynamical studies investigating this hypothesis. In our earlier work, we examined the effect of Jupiter's mass on the impact rate experienced by the Earth. Here, we extend that approach to consider the influence of Jupiter's orbital eccentricity and inclination on the impact rate from asteroidal bodies and short-period comets. We first considered scenarios in which Jupiter's orbital eccentricity was somewhat higher and somewhat lower than that in our Solar System, for a variety of ‘Jupiter’ masses. We find that Jupiter's orbital eccentricity plays a moderate role in determining the impact flux at Earth, with more eccentric orbits resulting in a noticeably higher impact rate of asteroids than is the case for more circular orbits. This is particularly pronounced at high ‘Jupiter’ masses. For the short-period comets, the same effect is clearly apparent, albeit to a much lesser degree. The flux of short-period comets impacting the Earth is slightly higher for more eccentric Jovian orbits. We also considered scenarios in which Jupiter's orbital inclination was greater than that in our Solar System. Increasing Jupiter's orbital inclination greatly increased the flux of asteroidal impactors upon the Earth. However, at the highest tested inclination, the disruption to the Asteroid belt was so great that the belt would be entirely depleted after an astronomically short period of time. In such a system, the impact flux from asteroid bodies would therefore be very low, after an initial period of intense bombardment. By contrast, the influence of Jovian inclination on impacts from short-period comets was very small. A slight reduction in the impact flux was noted for the moderate and high inclination scenarios considered in this work – the results for inclinations of 5° and 25° were essentially identical. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ABSTRACT We have performed detailed thermophysical and dynamical modelling of the Jovian Trojan (1173) Anchises. Our results show that this is the most unusual object. By examining observational data of Anchises taken by IRAS, Akari and WISE at wavelengths between 11.5 and 60 μm, together with the variations in its optical light curve, we find that Anchises is most likely an elongated body, with an axis ratio, a/ b, of around 1.4. This results in calculated best-fitting dimensions for Anchises of 170 × 121 × 121 km (or an equivalent diameter of 136 +18/−11 km). We find that the observations of Anchises are best fitted by the object having a retrograde sense of rotation, and an unusually high thermal inertia in the range 25-100 J m−2 s−0.5 K−1 (3σ confidence level). The geometric albedo of Anchises is found to be 0.027 (+0.006/−0.007). Anchises therefore has one of the highest published thermal inertias of any object larger than 100 km in diameter, at such large heliocentric distances, as well as being one of the lowest albedo objects ever observed. More observations (visual and thermal) are needed to see whether there is a link between the very shallow phase curve, with almost no opposition effect, and the derived thermal properties for this large Trojan asteroid. Our dynamical investigation of Anchises' orbit has revealed it to be dynamically unstable on time-scales of hundreds of millions of years, similar to the unstable Neptunian Trojans 2001 QR322 and 2008 LC18. Unlike those objects, however, we find that the dynamical stability of Anchises is not a function of its initial orbital elements, the result of the exceptional precision with which its orbit is known. Our results are the first to show that a Jovian Trojan is dynamically unstable, and add further weight to the idea that the planetary Trojans likely represent a significant ongoing contribution to the dynamically unstable Centaur population, the parents of the short-period comets. The observed instability (fully half of all clones of Anchises escape the Solar system within 350 Myr) does not rule out a primordial origin for Anchises, but, when taken in concert with the result of our thermophysical analysis, suggest that it would be a fascinating target for a future study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have performed detailed thermophysical and dynamical modelling of the Jovian Trojan (1173) Anchises. Our results show that this is the most unusual object. By examining observational data of Anchises taken by IRAS, Akari and WISE at wavelengths between 11.5 and 60 μm, together with the variations in its optical light curve, we find that Anchises is most likely an elongated body, with an axis ratio, a/b, of around 1.4. This results in calculated best-fitting dimensions for Anchises of 170 × 121 × 121 km (or an equivalent diameter of 136 +18/−11 km). We find that the observations of Anchises are best fitted by the object having a retrograde sense of rotation, and an unusually high thermal inertia in the range 25–100 J m−2 s−0.5 K−1 (3σ confidence level). The geometric albedo of Anchises is found to be 0.027 (+0.006/−0.007). Anchises therefore has one of the highest published thermal inertias of any object larger than 100 km in diameter, at such large heliocentric distances, as well as being one of the lowest albedo objects ever observed. More observations (visual and thermal) are needed to see whether there is a link between the very shallow phase curve, with almost no opposition effect, and the derived thermal properties for this large Trojan asteroid. Our dynamical investigation of Anchises’ orbit has revealed it to be dynamically unstable on time-scales of hundreds of millions of years, similar to the unstable Neptunian Trojans 2001 QR322 and 2008 LC18. Unlike those objects, however, we find that the dynamical stability of Anchises is not a function of its initial orbital elements, the result of the exceptional precision with which its orbit is known. Our results are the first to show that a Jovian Trojan is dynamically unstable, and add further weight to the idea that the planetary Trojans likely represent a significant ongoing contribution to the dynamically unstable Centaur population, the parents of the short-period comets. The observed instability (fully half of all clones of Anchises escape the Solar system within 350 Myr) does not rule out a primordial origin for Anchises, but, when taken in concert with the result of our thermophysical analysis, suggest that it would be a fascinating target for a future study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The recent discovery of the first Neptune Trojan at the planet's trailing (L5) Lagrange point, 2008 LC18, offers an opportunity to confirm the formation mechanism of a member of this important tracer population for the Solar system's dynamical history. We tested the stability of 2008 LC18's orbit through a detailed dynamical study, using test particles spread across the ±3σ range of orbital uncertainties in a, e, i and Ω. This showed that the wide uncertainties of the published orbit span regions of both extreme dynamical instability, with lifetimes <100 Myr, and significant stability, with lifetimes >1 Gyr. The stability of 2008 LC18's clones is greatly dependent on their semimajor axis and only weakly correlated with their orbital eccentricity. Test particles on orbits with an initial semimajor axis of less than 29.91 au have dynamical half-lives shorter than 100 Myr; in contrast, particles with an initial semimajor axis of greater than 29.91 au exhibit such strong dynamical stability that almost all are retained over the 1 Gyr of our simulations. More observations of this object are necessary to improve the orbit. If 2008 LC18 is in the unstable region, then our simulations imply that it is either a temporary Trojan capture or a representative of a slowly decaying Trojan population (like its sibling the L4 Neptunian Trojan 2001 QR322), and that it may not be primordial. Alternatively, if the orbit falls into the larger, stable region, then 2008 LC18 is a primordial member of the highly stable and highly inclined component of the Neptune Trojan population, joining 2005 TN53 and 2007 VL305. We attempted to recover 2008 LC18 using the 2.3-m telescope at Siding Spring Observatory to provide this astrometry, but were unsuccessful due to the high stellar density of its current sky location near the Galactic centre. The recovery of this object will require a telescope in the 8-m class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT It has recently been proposed, on the basis of eclipse-timing data, that the eclipsing polar cataclysmic variable HU Aquarii is host to at least two giant planets. However, that result has been called into question based upon the dynamical stability of the proposed planets. In this work, we present a detailed re-analysis of all eclipse-timing data available for the HU Aquarii system, making use of standard techniques used to fit orbits to radial-velocity data. We find that the eclipse timings can be used to obtain a two-planet solution that does not require the presence of additional bodies within the system. We then perform a highly detailed dynamical analysis of the proposed planetary system. We show that the improved orbital parameters we have derived correspond to planets that are dynamically unstable on unfeasibly short time-scales (of the order of 104 yr or less). Given these results, we discuss briefly how the observed signal might in fact be the result of the intrinsic properties of the eclipsing polar, rather than being evidence of dynamically improbable planets. Taken in concert, our results highlight the need for caution in interpreting such timing variations as being planetary in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT It has recently been suggested that the eclipsing polar HU Aquarii is a host to at least two giant planets. We have performed highly detailed dynamical analyses of the orbits of those planets and showed that the proposed system is highly unstable on time-scales of <5 × 103 yr. For the coplanar orbits suggested in the discovery Letter, we find stable orbital solutions for the planetary system only if the outer body moves on an orbit that brings it no closer to the host star than ∼6 au. The required periastron distance for the outer planet lies approximately 5 Hill radii beyond the orbit of the inner planet, and well beyond the 1σ error bars placed on the orbit of the outer planet in the discovery Letter. If the orbits of the proposed planets are significantly inclined with respect to one another, the median stability increases slightly, but such systems still become destabilized on astronomically minute time-scales (typically within a few 104 yr). Only in the highly improbable scenario where the outer planet follows a retrograde but coplanar orbit (i.e. inclined by 180° to the orbit of the inner planet) is there any significant region of stability within the original 1σ orbital uncertainties. Our results suggest that, if there is a second (and potentially, a third planet) in the HU Aquarii system, its orbit is dramatically different from that suggested in the discovery Letter, and that more observations are critically required in order to constrain the nature of the suggested orbital bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jonti Horner and Patryk Sofia Lykawka look at what the leftovers from planet formation reveal about the evolution of both the solar system and other planetary systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following our earlier work studying the formation of the Neptunian Trojan population during the planet's migration, we present results examining the eventual fate of the Trojan clouds produced in that work. A large number of Trojans were followed under the gravitational influence of the giant planets for a period of at least 1 Gyr. We find that the stability of Neptunian Trojans seems to be strongly correlated to their initial post-migration orbital elements, with those objects that survive as Trojans for billions of years, displaying negligible orbital evolution. The great majority of these survivors began the integrations with small eccentricities () and small libration amplitudes (). The survival rate of 'pre-formed' Neptunian Trojans [which in general survived on dynamically cold orbits ()] varied between 5 and 70 per cent, depending on the precise detail of their initial orbits. In contrast, the survival rate of 'captured' Trojans (on final orbits spread across a larger region of the - element space) was markedly lower, ranging between 1-10 per cent after 4 Gyr. Taken in concert with our earlier work and the broad -distribution of the observed Trojan population, we note that planetary formation scenarios, which involve the slow migration (a few tens of millions of years) of Neptune from an initial planetary architecture that is both resonant and compact ( au), provide the most promising fit of those we considered to the observed Trojan population. In such scenarios, we find that the present-day Trojan population would number 1 per cent of that which was present at the end of the planet's migration (i.e. survival rate of 1 per cent), with the bulk being sourced from captured, rather than pre-formed objects. We note, however, that even those scenarios still fail to reproduce the presently observed portion of the Neptune Trojan population moving on orbits with 0.1 but . Dynamical integrations of the presently observed Trojans show that five out of the seven are dynamically stable on time-scales comparable to the age of the Solar system, while 2001 QR322 exhibits significant dynamical instability on time-scales of less than 1 Gyr. The seventh Trojan object, 2008 LC18, was only recently discovered and has such large orbital uncertainties that only future studies will be able to determine its stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the higher-order scattered and transmitted wave fields that result when an acoustic wave from a point source impinges at an arbitrary angle on a rectangular aperture in a rigid, thick wall. In this analysis, it is assumed that free field conditions exist on both sides of the aperture. Although the full scattered and transmitted pressure fields contain both modal sum and modal coupling effects, the modal coupling effects of the higher-order modes are ignored such that an approximate analytical solution to the uncoupled analysis can be utilized. Experiments have been undertaken to measure the sound pressure levels in the transmitted field that result when sound from a point source impinges on the opposite side of a rectangular aperture. Measurements were made with the source located at the required position to drive a particular in-aperture higher-order mode. The source was also located at positions that did not directly excite any in-aperture higher-order mode at a cut-on frequency. These results indicate that the approximate analysis developed here gives accurate solutions whether or not any mode of the aperture is driven at cut-on. Thus, the method can be used for any relative location of a source from a rectangular aperture of any dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Bizarre structures' in dinosaurs have four main traditional explanations: mechanical function, sexual selection, social selection and species recognition. Any of these can be plausible for individual species, but they fail to be persuasive when other lines of evidence cannot adequately test them. The first three also fail as general propositions when phylogenetic analyses based on other characters do not support scenarios of selective improvement of such functions in their clade (or the explanation simply does not apply to any other species in the clade). Moreover, the hypothesis of sexual selection requires significant sexual dimorphism, which has never been conclusively established in dinosaurs. We propose instead that species recognition may have been a more general force that drove the evolution of bizarre structures in dinosaurs. That is, the bizarre structures communicate to other individuals a variety of possible associational cues, including species identification, potential protection and social habits and the appropriateness of potential mates. In other words, bizarre structures amount to an advertisement for positive association. Neither species recognition nor any other hypothesis should be a 'default' explanation. Although direct observation is impossible, we propose two tests. First, contrary to adaptive, social or sexual selection, under the species recognition model morphology should be expected to evolve without obvious directional trends, because the only objective is to differ from one's relatives. Hence, patterns of evolution of bizarre structures should be relatively proliferative and non-directional. Second, several contemporaneous species should overlap in geographic range (sympatric, parapatric, peripatric). Fossil species often show evidence of this pattern in the past by 'ghost ranges' of related taxa. These tests together could reinforce or weaken an argument for species recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barrie Jones and Jonti Horner summarize the results of models addressing the role of Jupiter in protecting - or otherwise - the Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the four giant planets in the Solar system, only Jupiter and Neptune are currently known to possess swarms of Trojan asteroids – small objects that experience a 1:1 mean motion resonance with their host planet. In Lykawka et al., we performed extensive dynamical simulations, including planetary migration, to investigate the origin of the Neptunian Trojan population. Utilizing the vast amount of simulation data obtained for that work, together with fresh results from new simulations, we here investigate the dynamical capture of Trojans by all four giant planets from a primordial trans-Neptunian disc. We find the likelihood of a given planetesimal from this region being captured on to an orbit within Jupiter's Trojan cloud lies between several times 10−6 and 10−5. For Saturn, the probability is found to be in the range to 10−5, whilst for Uranus the probabilities range between 10−5 and 10−4. Finally, Neptune displays the greatest probability of Trojan capture, with values ranging between 10−4 and 10−3. Our results suggest that all four giant planets are able to capture and retain a significant population of Trojan objects from the disc by the end of planetary migration. As a result of encounters with the giant planets prior to Trojan capture, these objects tend to be captured on orbits that are spread over a wide range of orbital eccentricities and inclinations. The bulk of captured objects are to some extent dynamically unstable, and therefore, the populations of these objects tend to decay over the age of the Solar system, providing an important ongoing source of new objects moving on dynamically unstable orbits among the giant planets. Given that a huge population of objects would be displaced by Neptune's outward migration (with a potential cumulative mass a number of times that of the Earth), we conclude that the surviving remnant of the Trojans captured during the migration of the outer planets might be sufficient to explain the currently known Trojan populations in the outer Solar system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since early work on the stability of the first Neptunian Trojan, 2001 QR322, suggested that it was a dynamically stable, primordial body, it has been assumed that this applies to both that object and its more recently discovered brethren. However, it seems that things are no longer so clear-cut. In this work, we present the results of detailed dynamical simulations of the orbital behaviour of 2001 QR322. Using an ephemeris for the object that has significantly improved since earlier works, we follow the evolution of 19 683 test particles, placed on orbits within the observational error ellipse of 2001 QR322's orbit, for a period of 1 Gyr. We find that majority of these ‘clones’ of 2001 QR322 are dynamically unstable, exhibiting a near-exponential decay from both the Neptunian Trojan cloud (decay half-life of ∼550 Myr) and the Solar system (decay half-life of ∼590 Myr). The stability of the object within Neptune's Trojan cloud is found to be strongly dependent on the initial semimajor axis used, with these objects located at au being significantly less stable than those interior to this value, as a result of their having initial libration amplitudes very close to a critical threshold dividing regular and irregular motion, located at ∼70°–75° (full extent of angular motion). This result suggests that if 2001 QR322 is a primordial Neptunian Trojan, it must be a representative of a population that was once significantly larger than that we see today and adds weight to the idea that the Neptune Trojans may represent a significant source of objects moving on unstable orbits between the giant planets (the Centaurs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current models of Solar system formation suggest that the four giant planets accreted as a significantly more compact system than we observe today. In this work, we investigate the dynamical stability of pre-formed Neptune Trojans under the gravitational influence of the four giant planets in compact planetary architectures, over 10 Myr. In our modelling, the initial orbital locations of Uranus and Neptune were varied to produce systems in which those planets moved on non-resonant orbits or in which they lay in their mutual 1:2, 2:3 and 3:4 mean-motion resonances (MMRs). In total, 420 simulations were carried out, examining 42 different architectures, with a total of 840 000 particles across all runs. In the non-resonant cases, the Trojans suffered only moderate levels of dynamical erosion, with the most compact systems (those with au) losing around 50 per cent of their Trojans by the end of the integrations. In the 2:3 and 3:4 MMR scenarios, however, dynamical erosion was much higher with depletion rates typically greater than 66 per cent and total depletion in the most compact systems. The 1:2 resonant scenarios featured disruption on levels intermediate between the non-resonant cases and other resonant scenarios, with depletion rates of the order of tens of per cent. Overall, the great majority of plausible pre-migration planetary architectures resulted in severe levels of depletion of the Neptunian Trojan clouds. In particular, if Uranus and Neptune formed near their mutual 2:3 or 3:4 MMR and at heliocentric distances within 18 au (as favoured by recent studies), we found that the great majority of pre-formed Trojans would have been lost prior to Neptune's migration. This strengthens the case for the great bulk of the current Neptunian Trojan population having been captured during that migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fact that the Centaurs are the primary source of the short-period comets is well established. However, the origin of the Centaurs themselves is still under some debate, with a variety of different source reservoirs being proposed in the last decade. In this work, we suggest that the Neptune Trojans (together with the Jovian Trojans) could represent an additional significant source of Centaurs. Using dynamical simulations of the first Neptune Trojan discovered (2001 QR322), together with integrations following the evolution of clouds of theoretical Neptune Trojans obtained during simulations of planetary migration, we show that the Neptune Trojan population contains a great number of objects which are unstable on both Myr and Gyr time-scales. Using individual examples, we show how objects that leave the Neptunian Trojan cloud evolve on to orbits indistinguishable from those of the known Centaurs, before providing a range of estimates of the flux from this region to the Centaur population. With only moderate assumptions, it is shown that the Trojans can contribute a significant proportion of the Centaur population, and may even be the dominant source reservoir. This result is supported by past work on the colours of the Trojans and the Centaurs, but it will take future observations to determine the full scale of the contribution of the escaped Trojans to the Centaur population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been assumed that the planet Jupiter acts as a giant shield, significantly lowering the impact rate of minor bodies on Earth. However, until recently, very little work had been carried out examining the role played by Jupiter in determining the frequency of such collisions. In this work, the third of a series of papers, we examine the degree to which the impact rate on Earth resulting from the Oort cloud comets is enhanced or lessened by the presence of a giant planet in a Jupiter-like orbit, in an attempt to more fully understand the impact regime under which life on Earth has developed. Our results show that the presence of a giant planet in a Jupiter-like orbit significantly alters the impact rate of Oort cloud comets on Earth, decreasing the rate as the mass of the giant planet increases. The greatest bombardment flux is observed when no giant planet is present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It is often assumed that the terrestrial worlds have experienced identical impact regimes over the course of their formation and evolution, and, as a result, would have started life with identical volatile budgets. In this work, through illustrative dynamical simulations of the impact flux on Venus, the Earth, and Mars, we show that these planets can actually experience greatly different rates of impact from objects injected from different reservoirs. For example, we show scenarios in which Mars experiences far more asteroidal impacts, per cometary impactor, than Venus, with the Earth being intermediate in value between the two. This difference is significant, and is apparent in simulations of both quiescent and highly stirred asteroid belts (such as could be produced by a mutual mean-motion resonance crossing between Jupiter and Saturn, as proposed in the Nice model of the Late Heavy Bombardment). We consider the effects; such differences would have on the initial volatilisation of the terrestrial planets in a variety of scenarios of both endogenous and exogenous hydration, with particular focus on the key question of the initial level of deuteration in each planet''s water budget. We conclude that each of the terrestrial worlds will have experienced a significantly different distribution of impactors from various reservoirs, and that the assumption that each planet has the same initial volatile budget is, at the very least, a gross over-simplification. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We present the results of detailed dynamical simulations of the effect of the migration of the four giant planets on both the transport of pre-formed Neptune Trojans and the capture of new Trojans from a trans-Neptunian disc. The cloud of pre-formed Trojans consisted of thousands of massless particles placed on dynamically cold orbits around Neptune's L4 and L5 Lagrange points, while the trans-Neptunian disc contained tens of thousands of such particles spread on dynamically cold orbits between the initial and final locations of Neptune. Through the comparison of the results with the previous work on the known Neptunian Trojans, we find that scenarios involving the slow migration of Neptune over a large distance (50 Myr to migrate from 18.1 au to its current location, using an exponential-folding time of ) provide the best match to the properties of the known Trojans. Scenarios with faster migration (5 Myr, with ), and those in which Neptune migrates from 23.1 au to its current location, fail to adequately reproduce the current-day Trojan population. Scenarios which avoid disruptive perturbation events between Uranus and Neptune fail to yield any significant excitation of pre-formed Trojans (transported with efficiencies between 30 and 98 per cent whilst maintaining the dynamically cold nature of these objects – ). Conversely, scenarios with periods of strong Uranus–Neptune perturbation lead to the almost complete loss of such pre-formed objects. In these cases, a small fraction (∼0.15 per cent) of these escaped objects are later recaptured as Trojans prior to the end of migration, with a wide range of eccentricities (<0.35) and inclinations . In all scenarios (including those with such disruptive interaction between Uranus and Neptune), the capture of objects from the trans-Neptunian disc (through which Neptune migrates) is achieved with efficiencies between ∼0.1 and ∼1 per cent. The captured Trojans display a wide range of inclinations ( for slow migration, and <20° for rapid migration) and eccentricities (<0.35), and we conclude that, given the vast amount of material which undoubtedly formed beyond the orbit of Neptune, such captured objects may be sufficient to explain the entire Neptune Trojan population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been assumed that the planet Jupiter acts as a giant shield, significantly lowering the impact rate of minor bodies upon the Earth, and thus enabling the development and evolution of life in a collisional environment which is not overly hostile. In other words, it is thought that, thanks to Jupiter, mass extinctions have been sufficiently infrequent that the biosphere has been able to diversify and prosper. However, in the past, little work has been carried out to examine the validity of this idea. In the second of a series of papers, we examine the degree to which the impact risk resulting from objects on Centaur-like orbits is affected by the presence of a giant planet, in an attempt to fully understand the impact regime under which life on Earth has developed. The Centaurs are a population of ice-rich bodies which move on dynamically unstable orbits in the outer Solar system. The largest Centaurs known are several hundred kilometres in diameter, and it is certain that a great number of kilometre or sub-kilometre sized Centaurs still await discovery. These objects move on orbits which bring them closer to the Sun than Neptune, although they remain beyond the orbit of Jupiter at all times, and have their origins in the vast reservoir of debris known as the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt that extends beyond Neptune. Over time, the giant planets perturb the Centaurs, sending a significant fraction into the inner Solar System where they become visible as short-period comets. In this work, we obtain results which show that the presence of a giant planet can act to significantly change the impact rate of short-period comets on the Earth, and that such planets often actually increase the impact flux greatly over that which would be expected were a giant planet not present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The asteroids are a major source of potential impactors on the Earth today. It has long been assumed that the giant planet Jupiter acts as a shield, significantly lowering the impact rate on the Earth from both cometary and asteroidal bodies. Such shielding, it is claimed, enabled the development and evolution of life in a collisional environment, which is not overly hostile. The reduced frequency of impacts, and of related mass extinctions, would have allowed life the time to thrive, where it would otherwise have been suppressed. However, in the past, little work has been carried out to examine the validity of this idea. In the first of several papers, we examine the degree to which the impact risk resulting from a population representative of the asteroids is enhanced or reduced by the presence of a giant planet, in an attempt to understand fully the impact regime under which life on Earth developed. Our results show that the situation is far less clear cut that has previously been assumed, that is, the presence of a giant planet can act to enhance the impact rate of asteroids on the Earth significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the wave fields that result when a plane wave impinges at an arbitrary angle on a rectangular aperture in a rigid, thick wall. A nondimensional form of a prior Fourier transform solution of this problem is derived, from which it is more easy to appreciate the relationship between the physical attributes of the aperture and incoming wave and the resultant acoustic fields. The scattered field from the aperture is examined in detail, in particular the modal contributions to the driving function for the amplitude of the velocity potential. Although the full scattered field contains both modal sum and modal coupling effects, it is shown that neglect of the modal coupling effects introduces minimal error to the solution in certain situations. An approximate analytical solution to the uncoupled analysis is then developed, which is accurate provided that the aperture is acoustically large, such that there are several cut-on modes within the aperture. The full nature of the scattered field can be easily interpreted from the nondimensional, analytical solution. In particular, an error analysis is given from which one can determine the required number of modes in a solution for given accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale simulations of Centaurs have yielded vast numbers of data, the analysis of which allows interesting but uncommon scenarios to be studied. One such rare phenomenon is the temporary capture of Centaurs as Trojans of the giant planets. Such captures are generally short (10–100 kyr), but occur with sufficient frequency (∼40 objects larger than 1 km in diameter every Myr) that they may well contribute to the present-day populations. Uranus and Neptune seem to have great difficulty capturing Centaurs into the 1 : 1 resonance, while Jupiter captures some, and Saturn the most (∼80 per cent). We conjecture that such temporary capture from the Centaur population may be the dominant delivery route into the Saturnian Trojans. Photometric studies of the Jovian Trojans may reveal outliers with Centaur-like as opposed to asteroidal characteristics, and these would be prime candidates for captured Centaurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detailed orbit integrations of clones of five Centaurs– namely, 1996 AR20, 2060 Chiron, 1995 SN55, 2000 FZ53 and 2002 FY36– for durations of∼3 Myr are presented. One of our Centaur sample starts with perihelion initially under the control of Jupiter (1996 AR20), two start under the control of Saturn (Chiron and 1995 SN55) and one each starts under the control of Uranus (2000 FZ53) and Neptune (2002 FY36), respectively. A variety of interesting pathways are illustrated with detailed examples including: capture into the Jovian Trojans, repeated bursts of short-period comet behaviour, capture into mean-motion resonances with the giant planets and into Kozai resonances, as well as traversals of the entire Solar system. For each of the Centaurs, we provide statistics on the numbers (i) ejected, (ii) showing short-period comet behaviour and (iii) becoming Earth- and Mars-crossing. For example, Chiron has over 60 per cent of its clones becoming short-period objects, while 1995 SN55 has over 35 per cent. Clones of these two Centaurs typically make numerous close approaches to Jupiter. At the other extreme, 2000 FZ53 has∼2 per cent of its clones becoming short-period objects. In our simulations, typically 20 per cent of the clones which become short-period comets subsequently evolve into Earth-crossers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale simulations of the Centaur population are carried out. The evolution of 23 328 particles based on the orbits of 32 well-known Centaurs is followed for up to 3 Myr in the forward and backward direction under the influence of the four massive planets. The objects exhibit a rich variety of dynamical behaviour with half-lives ranging from 540 kyr (1996 AR20) to 32 Myr (2000 FZ53). The mean half-life of the entire sample of Centaurs is 2.7 Myr. The data are analysed using a classification scheme based on the controlling planets at perihelion and aphelion, previously given in Horner et al. Transfer probabilities are computed and show the main dynamical pathways of the Centaur population. The total number of Centaurs with diameters larger than 1 km is estimated as∼44 300, assuming an inward flux of one new short-period comet every 200 yr. The flux into the Centaur region from the Edgeworth–Kuiper Belt is estimated to be one new object every 125 yr. Finally, the flux from the Centaur region to Earth-crossing orbits is one new Earth-crosser every 880 yr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A new classification scheme is introduced for comet-like bodies in the Solar system. It covers the traditional comets as well as the Centaurs and Edgeworth–Kuiper belt objects. At low inclinations, close encounters with planets often result in near-constant perihelion or aphelion distances, or in perihelion–aphelion interchanges, so the minor bodies can be labelled according to the planets predominantly controlling them at perihelion and aphelion. For example, a JN object has a perihelion under the control of Jupiter and aphelion under the control of Neptune, and so on. This provides 20 dynamically distinct categories of outer Solar system objects in the Jovian and trans-Jovian regions. The Tisserand parameter with respect to the planet controlling perihelion is also often roughly constant under orbital evolution. So, each category can be further subdivided according to the Tisserand parameter. The dynamical evolution of comets, however, is dominated not by the planets nearest at perihelion or aphelion, but by the more massive Jupiter. The comets are separated into four categories – Encke-type, short-period, intermediate and long-period – according to aphelion distance. The Tisserand parameter categories now roughly correspond to the well-known Jupiter-family comets, transition types and Halley types. In this way, the nomenclature for the Centaurs and Edgeworth–Kuiper belt objects is based on, and consistent with, that for comets. Given the perihelion and aphelion distances together with the Tisserand parameter, our classification scheme provides a description for any comet-like body in the Solar system. The usefulness of the scheme is illustrated with examples drawn from numerical simulations and from the present-day Solar system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Two sets of investigators – Murray and Matese et al. – have recently claimed evidence for an undiscovered Solar System planet from possible great circle alignments in the aphelia directions of the long-period comets. However, comet discoveries are bedevilled by selection effects. These include anomalies caused by the excess of observers in the Northern as against the Southern hemisphere, seasonal and diurnal biases, directional effects which make it harder to discover comets in certain regions of the sky, as well as sociological biases. A simple mathematical model is developed to illustrate the geometrical selection effects controlling comet discoveries. The stream proposed by Murray is shown on an equal-area Hammer–Aitoff projection. The addition of newer data weakens the case for the alignment. There is also evidence that the subsample in the stream is affected by seasonal and north–south biases. The stream proposed by Matese et al. is most obvious in the sample of dynamically new comets, and especially in those whose orbits are best known. The most recent data continue to maintain the overpopulation in the great circle. This pattern in the data occurs with a probability of only ∼1.5 × 10[sup -3] by chance. None of the known biases is able to provide such an alignment. Numerical integrations are used to demonstrate that a planet by itself can reduce the perihelia of comets in its orbital plane to sufficiently small values so that they could be discovered from the Earth. To maintain the observed flux of comets in the stream requires a parent population of ∼3 × 10[sup 9] objects on orbits close to the planet's orbital plane. There is a need for a sample of long-period comets that is free from unknown or hard-to-model selection effects. Such will be provided by the European Space Agency satellite GAIA, which will discover ∼1000 long-period comets during its 5-yr mission. This may finally bring to fruition the long tradition of looking for the effects of perturbers in cometary catalogues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prosecution of doctors guilty of appalling human rights abuses at Nuremberg was achieved on the mistaken premise that the research community already had a code of conduct which, if applied, would have made such abuses impossible. In fact, not only was there no such code but when the ‘Nuremberg Code’ was published after the trial it continued to be ignored by many doctors for some thirty years afterwards. Indeed its central principle of informed consent has itself been eroded by subsequent international agreements on the ethics of medical research. This review shows that the mechanisms for approval of medical research which have now been promulgated in England and Wales, in practice, are applied on a very variable basis. Research in vulnerable groups unable to give fully informed consent such as children, prisoners and the incompetent elderly require the application of more rigorous standards of ethical control than those currently in operation. The use of vulnerable populations in the developing world and the application of international standards to them is also considered. A number of suggestions for improvements in current procedures in all these areas are put forward. The proposals for the United Kingdom would meet the requirements of the European Convention on bioethical research and the recent government consultation paper on medical treatment and research in incompetent adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the relationship between oviposition preference and offspring performance in Eurosta solidaginis, a fly that induces galls on tall goldenrod, Solidago altissima. In a garden experiment, we measured the oviposition preference and performance of E. solidaginis on four replicates of 20 genotypes of Solidago altissima for two years. Noevidence was found of an oviposition preference based on plant genotype. E. solidaginis survival was influenced by plant genotype in 1991, but not in 1990. In 1991, there was no correlation between the preference for plant genotypes and larval performance on these genotypes.More rapidly growing ramets were ovipunctured more frequently. However, survival was highest on ramets with intermediate growth rates. Ona per-plot basis, there was no relationship between mean growth rateand oviposition preference or offspring performance. In both 1990 and 1991 there was no significant correlation between preference and performance among plots. There were no significant positive correlations between years in the experimental garden in E. solidaginis preference for, or performance on, S. altissima genotypes. There were also nosignificant positive correlations between preference and performanceby E. solidaginis for S. altissima genotypes in the field and in theexperimental garden. This indicates a high degree of plasticity in plant traits related to oviposition preference and offspring performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the need for personal privacy within the context of epidemiological research. It concludes that privacy can be protected by early anonymisation and aggregation of personal health data without prejudicing the viability of a research project. During the period before anonymisation, however, a secure legal framework is necessary to prevent unauthorised access to potentially sensitive information. Within such a framework ethical codes need to be identified and monitored by an appropriate Local Research Ethics Committee (or a Multicentre Ethics Committee acting on behalf of a number of local committees). Present arrangements within the health care system in the UK for the handling of such data remain very unsatisfactory and put patient privacy at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights an international conference on ethics codes in medicine and biotechnology, held October 12-15, 1997, in Freiburg, Germany. Celebration of the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of the medical war crimes trial; Anniversary of the formulation of the Nuremberg Code; Keynote speakers; Topics discussed.

Examines the efforts of a medical referee on cremation. Risk of unsuspected homicide; Forms of cremation authorized under the cremation acts; Justification on the use of necropsies.

Assesses the pressure-girth profiles of several types of elastic stocking. Measurement of the circumferential compression exerted by an elastic stocking; Usefulness of the technique in determining ability of stocking to exert graduated pressure on a limb; Elimination of the ankle-calf disproportion in the method.

Asteroids and comets (planetesimals) are created in gas- and dust-rich protoplanetary discs. The presence of these planetesimals around main-sequence stars is usually inferred from the detection of excess continuum emission at infrared wavelengths from dust grains produced by destructive processes within these discs. Modelling of the disc structure and dust grain properties for those discs is often hindered by the absence of any meaningful constraint on the location and spatial extent of the disc. Multi-wavelength, spatially resolved imaging is thus invaluable in refining the interpretation of these systems. Observations of HD 48682 at far-infrared (Spitzer, Herschel) and sub-millimetre (JCMT, SMA) wavelengths indicated the presence of an extended, cold debris disc with a blackbody temperature of 57.9 ± 0.7 K. Here, we combined these data to perform a comprehensive study of the disc architecture and its implications for the dust grain properties. The deconvolved images revealed a cold debris belt, verified by combining a 3D radiative transfer dust continuum model with image analysis to replicate the structure using a single, axisymmetric annulus. A Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis calculated the maximum likelihood of HD48682's disc radius (⁠|$R_{\rm disc} = 89^{+17}_{-20}~$|  au), fractional width (⁠|$\Delta R_{\rm disc} = 0.41^{+0.27}_{-0.20}$|⁠), position angle (⁠|$\theta = 66{_{.}^{\circ}} 3^{+4.5}_{-4.9}$|⁠), and inclination (⁠|$\phi = 112{_{.}^{\circ}} 5^{+4.2}_{-4.2}$|⁠). HD 48682 has been revealed to host a collisionally active, broad disc whose emission is dominated by small dust grains, s min ∼ 0.6  μ m, and a size distribution exponent of 3.60  ±  0.02. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which examined the hypothesis that women can increase their muscle glycogen stores and improve their exercise performance during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Result of the dietary analyses; Plasma glucose and lactate concentrations; Explanation for the lack of a statistically significant improvement in mean performance time in the study.

Editorial. Discusses the importance of Christian ethics in medical ethics. Decline of Christian values in the practice of medicine; Circumstances in which it is permissible to withdraw treatment; View that life begins at conception; Crude utilitarianism affecting medical ethics; Claim of utilitarians that belief in God is irrational.

Relates the experience of the author on cardiac arrest. Account of the author's collapse cardiac arrest at a lecture; Need to perform a coronary bypass operation; Relations with other cardiac patients at the surgical ward.

Investigates the value of graduated compression stockings in deep venous insufficiency. Reduction in the ambulatory venous pressure; Mechanism in the beneficial effect of compression in limbs with venous ulceration; Avoidance of the ankle-calf disproportion.