  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 dataset detailing over 2.6 million close planet/planetesimal
interactions. We explore scenarios stored within that database 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 Disk and other
reservoirs, the JFCs are an ever-present impact threat.
