title: Inner solar system material discovered in the Oort cloud.
abstract: We have observed C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS), a recently discovered object on a cometary orbit coming from the Oort cloud that is physically similar to an inner main belt rocky S-type asteroid. Recent dynamical models successfully reproduce the key characteristics of our current solar system; some of these models require significant migration of the giant planets, whereas others do not. These models provide different predictions on the presence of rocky material expelled from the inner solar system in the Oort cloud. C/2014 S3 could be the key to verifying these predictions of the migration-based dynamical models. Furthermore, this object displays a very faint, weak level of comet-like activity, five to six orders of magnitude less than that of typical ice-rich comets on similar Orbits coming from the Oort cloud. For the nearly tailless appearance, we are calling C/2014 S3 a Manx object. Various arguments convince us that this activity is produced by sublimation of volatile ice, that is, normal cometary activity. The activity implies that C/2014 S3 has retained a tiny fraction of the water that is expected to be present at its formation distance in the inner solar system. We may be looking at fresh inner solar system Earth-forming material that was ejected from the inner solar system and preserved for billions of years in the Oort cloud.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai'i, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822-1839, USA.
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2058-5670
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Meech
authors.affiliation: European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Vitacura, Casilla 19001, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai'i, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822-1839, USA.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4734-8878
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kleyna
authors.affiliation: European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany.
authors.forename: Olivier R
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6952-9349
authors.initials: OR
authors.lastname: Hainaut
authors.affiliation: Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai'i, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822-1839, USA.; Kiepenheuer Institut fuer Sonnenphysik, Schoeneckstrasse 6, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berdyugina
authors.affiliation: Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai'i, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822-1839, USA.
authors.forename: Jacqueline V
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2021-1863
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Keane
authors.affiliation: Space Situational Awareness (SSA)-Near Earth Objects (NEO) Coordination Centre, European Space Agency, 00044 Frascati (RM), Italy.; SpaceDyS s.r.l., 56023 Cascina (Pl), Italy.; Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)-Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (IAPS), 00133 Roma (RM), Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7895-8209
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Micheli
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Lagrange, UMR 7293, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, CNRS, Observatoire de la Cöte d'Azur, Boulevard de l'Observatoire, 06304 Nice Cedex 4, France.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morbidelli
authors.affiliation: Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai'i, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822-1839, USA.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wainscoat
mesh_terms: D019419:Evolution, Planetary; D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D019110:Meteoroids; D016083:Planets; D016082:Solar System
keywords: Comets; asteroids; solar system