scholarly journals Small Bodies in The Outer Solar System

1999 ◽  
Vol 172 ◽  
pp. 51-54
Author(s):  
Brian G. Marsden
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Absolute Magnitude ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Mean Motion ◽  
Minimum Distances ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Mean Motion Resonance

This report is a continuation of three earlier reviews (Marsden 1996a, 1996b, 1998) that included a summary of our orbital knowledge of the Kuiper Belt. Presented at conferences held in the middle of 1994, 1995 and 1996, respectively, these reviews showed the steadily developing picture of a system dominated by the platinos, librating in the 2:3 mean-motion resonance with Neptune, and the cubewanos, a somewhat more distant population of nonlibrating objects with low orbital eccentricities. The existence of a 3:4 Neptune librator and a 3:5 Neptune librator was also suspected. These librators have now been confirmed, and a possible 4:7 librator and possible second 3:5 librator have also been found. The known and suspected multiple-opposition librators are listed in Table 1. Here it is important to note that the orbital semimajor axes a (in AU), eccentricities e and inclinations i (in degrees with respect to the 2000.0 ecliptic) are mean values that eliminate the large 12-year and 30-year periodicities arising from the indirect perturbations by Jupiter and Satum on sun-centered orbits. The numbers in parentheses are the semimajor axes (in AU) corresponding to the resonances. Following the absolute magnitude H, the entries “Nep.” and “Ura.” show the minimum distances (in AU) from Neptune and Uranus (the latter being of course quite small for the most eccentric 2:3 Neptune librators) within several millennia of the present time.

scholarly journals Comets and the Connection to Life

2004 ◽  
Vol 213 ◽  
pp. 263-270
Author(s):  
K. J. Meech ◽  
J. M. Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Evolutionary Processes ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Kuiper Belt Object ◽  
Solar System Small Bodies

We present a summary of ground-based work being done to gain an understanding of primitive comet, Centaur and Kuiper belt object compositions. We are seeing a diversity of compositions in outer solar system small bodies with respect to the presence of water and organics which may reflect both primordial differences and evolutionary processes.

scholarly journals The motion of Pluto over the age of the solar system

1996 ◽  
Vol 172 ◽  
pp. 61-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Kinoshita ◽  
Hiroshi Nakai
Keyword(s):  
Lyapunov Exponent ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Stable State ◽  
Orbital Plane ◽  
Maximum Lyapunov Exponent ◽  
List Type ◽  
Mean Motion ◽  
Lyapunov Time ◽  
Mean Motion Resonance

Pluto's motion is chaotic in the sense that the maximum Lyapunov exponent is positive and the Lyapunov time (the inverse of the Lyapunov exponent) is about 20 million years (Myr). We have carried out the numerical integration of Pluto over the age of the solar system (5.7 billion years towards the past and 5.5 billion years towards the future), which is about 280 times of the Lyapunov time. Our integration does not show any indication of gross instability in the motion of Pluto. The time evolution of Keplerian elements of a nearby trajectory of Pluto at first grow linearly with the time and then start to increase exponentially. These exponential divergences stop at about 420 Myr and saturate. The exponential divergences are suppressed by the following three resonances that Pluto has: (1)Pluto is in the 3:2 mean motion resonance with Neptune and the libration period of the critical argument is about 20000 years.(2)The argument of perihelion librates around 90 degrees and its period is 3.8 Myr.(3)The motion of the Pluto's orbital plane referred to the Neptune's orbital plane is synchronized with the libration of the argument of perihelion (a secondary resonance). The libration period associated with the second resonance is 34.5 Myr.We briefly discuss the motions of Kuiper belt objects in a 3:2 mean motion resonance with Neptune and several possible scenarios how Pluto evolves to the present stable state.

scholarly journals Horseshoe co-orbitals of Earth: current population and new candidates

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (4) ◽  
pp. 4420-4432
Author(s):  
Murat Kaplan ◽  
Sergen Cengiz
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Semimajor Axis ◽  
Dynamical Behaviour ◽  
Orbital State ◽  
Mean Motion ◽  
Current Population ◽  
Mean Motion Resonance

ABSTRACT Most co-orbital objects in the Solar system are thought to follow tadpole-type orbits, behaving as Trojans. However, most of Earth’s identified co-orbitals are moving along horseshoe-type orbits. The current tally of minor bodies considered to be Earth co-orbitals amounts to 18; of them, 12 are horseshoes, 5 are quasi-satellites, and 1 is a Trojan. The semimajor axis values of all these bodies librate between 0.983 and 1.017 au. In this work, we have studied the dynamical behaviour of objects following orbits with semimajor axis within this range that may be in a 1:1 mean-motion resonance with Earth. Our results show that asteroids 2016 CO246, 2017 SL16, and 2017 XQ60 are moving along asymmetrical horseshoe-type orbits; the asteroid 2018 PN22 follows a nearly symmetric or regular horseshoe-type orbit. Asteroids 2016 CO246, 2017 SL16, and 2017 XQ60 can remain in the horseshoe co-orbital state for about 900, 3300, and 2700 yr, respectively. Asteroid 2018 PN22 has a more chaotic dynamical behaviour; it may not stay in a horseshoe co-orbital state for more than 200 yr. The horseshoe libration periods of 2016 CO246, 2017 SL16, 2017 XQ60, and 2018 PN22 are 280, 255, 411, and 125 yr, respectively.

scholarly journals Impactor Flux on the Pluto-Charon System

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S263) ◽  
pp. 98-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonzalo C. de Elía ◽  
Romina P. Di Sisto ◽  
Adrián Brunini
Keyword(s):  
Size Distribution ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Mean Motion ◽  
Stability And Instability ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Mean Motion Resonance ◽  
Collisional Evolution

AbstractIn this work, we study the impactor flux on Pluto and Charon due to the collisional evolution of Plutinos.To do this, we develop a statistical code that includes catastrophic collisions and cratering events, and takes into account the stability and instability zones of the 3:2 mean motion resonance with Neptune. Our results suggest that if 1 Pluto-sized object is in this resonance, the flux of D = 2 km Plutinos on Pluto is ~4–24 percent of the flux of D = 2 km Kuiper Belt projectiles on Pluto. However, with 5 Pluto-sized objects in the resonance, the contribution of the Plutino population to the impactor flux on Pluto may be comparable to that of the Kuiper Belt. As for Charon, if 1 Pluto-sized object is in the 3:2 resonance, the flux of D = 2 km Plutinos is ~10–63 percent of the flux of D = 2 km impactors coming from the Kuiper Belt. However, with 5 Pluto-sized objects, the Plutino population may be a primary source of the impactor flux on Charon. We conclude that it is necessary to specify the Plutino size distribution and the number of Pluto-sized objects in the 3:2 Neptune resonance in order to determine if the Plutino population is a primary source of impactors on the Pluto-Charon system.

scholarly journals The Kuiper Belt

1994 ◽  
Vol 160 ◽  
pp. 31-44
Author(s):  
Jane Luu
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Cometary Nucleus ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Short Period Comet ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Lower Limits ◽  
Period Comet

The existence of a belt of comets in the outer solar system (the “Kuiper belt”) has been postulated for a variety of reasons, including the need for a source for the short-period comets. The existence of the belt seems supported by the discoveries of the trans-Neptunian objects 1992 QB1, 1993 FW, 1993 RO, 1993 RP, 1993 SB, and 1993 SC. If these objects are members of the Kuiper belt, crude lower limits on the belt population can be established from the discoveries. The Kuiper belt comets are likely to be primordial remnants of the disk from which the solar system accreted. According to the current theories of cometary nucleus evolution, these objects are expected to possess mantles (“irradiation mantles”) which are different from mantles of comets which have been heated to the point of sublimation (“rubble mantles”). Kuiper belt comets on their way to short-period comet orbits may exist among the Centaur objects.

Near-Simultaneous Optical + NIR Photometry of Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Schwamb ◽  
Michele Bannister ◽  
Michael Marsset ◽  
Wesley Fraser ◽  
Rosemary Pike ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Near Ir ◽  
Short Period Comet ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Dust Composition ◽  
Survey Sample ◽  
Dust Coma ◽  
Rare Opportunity

<p>In August 2019, 2I/Borisov, the second interstellar object and first visibly active interstellar comet, was discovered on a trajectory nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic. Observations of planet forming disks and debris disks serve as probes of the ensemble properties of extrasolar planetesimals, but the passage of an active interstellar comet through our Solar System provides a rare opportunity to individually study these small bodies up close in the same ways in which we investigate objects originating from our own Outer Solar System. Ground-based observations of short period comet <span>67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko</span> revealed a coma dust composition indistinguishable from what was measured on its nucleus by the orbiting <em>Rosetta</em> spacecraft. Therefore when 2/I Borisov had a dust dominated tail, we attempted to study its composition with near-simultaneous griJ photometry with the Gemini North Telescope. We obtained two epochs of GMOS-N and NIRI observations in November 2019, separated by two weeks. We will report on the inferred optical-near-IR colors of 2I/I Borisov’s dust coma/tail and nucleus. We will compare our measurements to other observations of 2I/Borisov and place the interstellar comet in context with the Col-OSSOS (Colours of the Outer Solar System Survey) sample of small KBOs and interstellar object <span>ʻOumuamua</span> observed in grJ with Gemini North, using the same setup.</p>

scholarly journals Working Group on Planetary Systems Nomenclature (WGPSN)

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (T26A) ◽  
pp. 179-180
Author(s):  
Kaare Aksnes Aksnes ◽  
J. Blue ◽  
J. Blunck ◽  
G.A. Burba ◽  
G. Consolmagno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Working Group ◽  
Planetary Systems ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Task Groups ◽  
Western Norway ◽  
System Input ◽  
E Mail

Since the IAU General Assembly in Sydney in July 2003, the WGPSN has conducted its business through numerous e-mail exchanges between the members. A nomenclature workshop was held at Hardingasete, western Norway on September 1–3, 2005. That meeting was attended by eight members from the WG and two from the Task Groups (TG) for the small bodies and for the outer solar system. Input to the meeting had also been received by e-mail from other members.

scholarly journals Organic matter in the Solar System: From colors to spectral bands

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S251) ◽  
pp. 285-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale P. Cruikshank
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Spectral Energy Distribution ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Spectral Bands ◽  
Organic Complexes ◽  
Planetary Satellites ◽  
Spectral Models

AbstractThe reflected spectral energy distribution of low-albedo, red-colored, airless bodies in the outer Solar System (planetary satellites, Centaur objects, Kuiper Belt objects, bare comet nuclei) can be modeled with spectral models that incorporate the optical properties of refractory complex organic materials synthesized in the laboratory and called tholins. These materials are strongly colored and impart their color properties to the models. The colors of the bodies cannot be matched with plausible minerals, ices, or metals. Iapetus, a satellite of Saturn, is one such red-colored body that is well matched with tholin-rich models. Detection of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons on Iapetus by the Cassini spacecraft, and the presence of these hydrocarbons in the tholins, is taken as evidence for the widespread presence of solid organic complexes aromatic and aliphatic units on many bodies in the outer Solar System. These organic complexes may be compositionally similar to the insoluble organic matter in some classes of the carbonaceous meteorites, and thus may ultimately derive from the organic matter in the interstellar medium.

A Brief Summary of Kuiper Belt Research

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-228
Author(s):  
R. Malhotra
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Solar Nebula ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Oort Cloud ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Numerical Work ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Considerable Difficulty ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Short Period

Ideas about the contents of the Solar System beyond Neptune and Pluto can be traced back to at least Edgeworth (1943, 1949) and Kuiper (1951), who speculated on the existence of pre-planetary small bodies in the outer Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune - remnants of the accretion process in the primordial Solar Nebula. The basis for the speculation was primarily the argument that the Solar Nebula was unlikely to have been abruptly truncated at the orbit of Neptune, and that in the trans-Neptunian accretion timescales were too long for bodies larger than about ˜ 1000 km in radius to have formed in the 4.5 billion year age of the Solar System. Another important theoretical argument relevant to this region of the Solar System is related to the origin of short period comets. Fernández (1980) suggested that the short period comets may have an origin in a disk of small bodies beyond Neptune, rather than being “captured” from the population of long period comets originating in the Oort Cloud, the latter scenario having considerable difficulty reconciling the observed flux of short period comets with the exceedingly low efficiency of transfer of long period comet orbits to short period ones by means of the gravitational perturbations of the giant planets. The new scenario received further strength in the numerical work of Duncan et al. (1988) and Quinn et al. (1990) which showed that the relatively small orbital inclinations of the Jupiter-family short period comets were not consistent with a source in the isotropic Oort Cloud of comets but could be reproduced with a source in a low-inclination reservoir beyond Neptune’s orbit. Duncan et al. named this hypothetical source the Kuiper Belt, and the name has come into common use in the last decade (although other names are also in use, e.g. Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt, and trans-Neptunian objects). A recent theoretical milestone was the work by Holman and Wisdom (1993) and Levison and Duncan (1993) on the long term stability of test particle orbits in the trans-Neptunian Solar System. This work showed that low-eccentricity, low-inclination orbits with semimajor axes in excess of about 43 AU are stable on billion year timescales, but that in the region between 35 AU and 43 AU orbital stability times range from 107 yr to more than 109 yr [see, for example, figure 1 in Holman (1995)]. Orbital instability in this intermediate region typically leads to a close encounter with Neptune which causes dramatic orbital changes, with the potential for subsequent transfer to the inner Solar System. Thus, this region could in principle serve as the reservoir of short period comets at the present epoch. However, the idea of a kinematically cold — i.e. low-eccentricity, low-inclination — population in this region is at odds with recent observations, and the question of the origin of short period comets remains unsettled at the present time.

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