scholarly journals New Horizons Spacecraft to Reach Farthest Body in Solar System Yet

Eos ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenessa Duncombe
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Kuiper Belt Object ◽  
New Horizons

The flyby of Ultima Thule on New Year’s Day will give us our first glimpse of a mysterious Kuiper Belt object.

scholarly journals The solar nebula origin of (486958) Arrokoth, a primordial contact binary in the Kuiper Belt

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 367 (6481) ◽  
pp. eaay6620 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. B. McKinnon ◽  
D. C. Richardson ◽  
J. C. Marohnic ◽  
J. T. Keane ◽  
W. M. Grundy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Solid Particles ◽  
Early Solar System ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Kuiper Belt Object ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Contact Binary ◽  
Collapsing Cloud ◽  
Gas Drag

The New Horizons spacecraft’s encounter with the cold classical Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth (provisional designation 2014 MU69) revealed a contact-binary planetesimal. We investigated how Arrokoth formed and found that it is the product of a gentle, low-speed merger in the early Solar System. Its two lenticular lobes suggest low-velocity accumulation of numerous smaller planetesimals within a gravitationally collapsing cloud of solid particles. The geometric alignment of the lobes indicates that they were a co-orbiting binary that experienced angular momentum loss and subsequent merger, possibly because of dynamical friction and collisions within the cloud or later gas drag. Arrokoth’s contact-binary shape was preserved by the benign dynamical and collisional environment of the cold classical Kuiper Belt and therefore informs the accretion processes that operated in the early Solar System.

scholarly journals The geology and geophysics of Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 367 (6481) ◽  
pp. eaay3999 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Spencer ◽  
S. A. Stern ◽  
J. M. Moore ◽  
H. A. Weaver ◽  
K. N. Singer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Smooth Surface ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Solar System Formation ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Kuiper Belt Object ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Geological Features ◽  
Solar System Bodies ◽  
Contact Binary

The Cold Classical Kuiper Belt, a class of small bodies in undisturbed orbits beyond Neptune, is composed of primitive objects preserving information about Solar System formation. In January 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew past one of these objects, the 36-kilometer-long contact binary (486958) Arrokoth (provisional designation 2014 MU69). Images from the flyby show that Arrokoth has no detectable rings, and no satellites (larger than 180 meters in diameter) within a radius of 8000 kilometers. Arrokoth has a lightly cratered, smooth surface with complex geological features, unlike those on previously visited Solar System bodies. The density of impact craters indicates the surface dates from the formation of the Solar System. The two lobes of the contact binary have closely aligned poles and equators, constraining their accretion mechanism.

scholarly journals Organic Components of Small Bodies in the Outer Solar System: Some Results of the New Horizons Mission

Life ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 126
Author(s):  
Dale P. Cruikshank ◽  
Yvonne J. Pendleton ◽  
William M. Grundy
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Space Environment ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Orange Pigment ◽  
Kuiper Belt Object ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Organic Components ◽  
Key Indicators ◽  
Complex Organic

The close encounters of the Pluto–Charon system and the Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth (formerly 2014 MU69) by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in 2015 and 2019, respectively, have given new perspectives on the most distant planetary bodies yet explored. These bodies are key indicators of the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the outer regions of the Solar System’s nascent environment. Pluto and Charon reveal characteristics of the largest Kuiper Belt objects formed in the dynamically evolving solar nebula inward of ~30 AU, while the much smaller Arrokoth is a largely undisturbed relic of accretion at ~45 AU. The surfaces of Pluto and Charon are covered with volatile and refractory ices and organic components, and have been shaped by geological activity. On Pluto, N2, CO and CH4 are exchanged between the atmosphere and surface as gaseous and condensed phases on diurnal, seasonal and longer timescales, while Charon’s surface is primarily inert H2O ice with an ammoniated component and a polar region colored with a macromolecular organic deposit. Arrokoth is revealed as a fused binary body in a relatively benign space environment where it originated and has remained for the age of the Solar System. Its surface is a mix of CH3OH ice, a red-orange pigment of presumed complex organic material, and possibly other undetected components.

The formation and evolution of the solar system

2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (01) ◽  
pp. 85-87
Author(s):  
Türkanə Mirzəli qızı Əliyeva ◽  
◽  
Vəfa Əjdər qızı Qafarova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
T Tauri ◽  
Dwarf Planets ◽  
Celestial Bodies ◽  
Extensive Information ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
Red Giant ◽  
Planet X

The article provides extensive information on the formation, evolution and structure of the solar system. It also discusses the planets of the solar system and the dwarf planets. Its noted that the Kuiper objects are the celestial bodies which belongs to the solar system. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is currently helps studying four objects in the Kuiper belt. There is also talked about TTauri type stars. The article discusses the future transformation of the Sun from a Red Giant to a White Dwarf. Key words: Kuiper Belt, T Tauri Star, Dwarf Planets, Planet X

scholarly journals Photometry of Kuiper belt object (486958) Arrokoth from New Horizons LORRI

Icarus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 356 ◽  
pp. 113723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason D. Hofgartner ◽  
Bonnie J. Buratti ◽  
Susan D. Benecchi ◽  
Ross A. Beyer ◽  
Andrew Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Kuiper Belt Object ◽  
New Horizons

scholarly journals Initial results from the New Horizons exploration of 2014 MU69, a small Kuiper Belt object

Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 364 (6441) ◽  
pp. eaaw9771 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Stern ◽  
H. A. Weaver ◽  
J. R. Spencer ◽  
C. B. Olkin ◽  
G. R. Gladstone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Surface Color ◽  
Kuiper Belt Object ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Contact Binary ◽  
Geological Units ◽  
Distant Region ◽  
Initial Results ◽  
Solar Wind Interactions

The Kuiper Belt is a distant region of the outer Solar System. On 1 January 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew close to (486958) 2014 MU69, a cold classical Kuiper Belt object approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. Such objects have never been substantially heated by the Sun and are therefore well preserved since their formation. We describe initial results from these encounter observations. MU69 is a bilobed contact binary with a flattened shape, discrete geological units, and noticeable albedo heterogeneity. However, there is little surface color or compositional heterogeneity. No evidence for satellites, rings or other dust structures, a gas coma, or solar wind interactions was detected. MU69’s origin appears consistent with pebble cloud collapse followed by a low-velocity merger of its two lobes.

scholarly journals Pluto’s and Charon’s Craters Reveal a Solar System Deficit

Eos ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Kornei
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
New Horizons

The New Horizons spacecraft recorded images of craters that imply an unexpected dearth of small objects in the Kuiper Belt.

scholarly journals The Dark Red Spot on KBO Haumea

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S263) ◽  
pp. 192-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Lacerda
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Rotation Period ◽  
Kuiper Belt Objects ◽  
Kuiper Belt Object ◽  
Average Surface ◽  
Surface Features ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Rotational Deformation

AbstractKuiper belt object 136108 Haumea is one of the most fascinating bodies in our solar system. Approximately 2000 × 1600 × 1000 km in size, it is one of the largest Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) and an unusually elongated one for its size. The shape of Haumea is the result of rotational deformation due to its extremely short 3.9-hour rotation period. Unlike other 1000 km-scale KBOs which are coated in methane ice the surface of Haumea is covered in almost pure H2O-ice. The bulk density of Haumea, estimated around 2.6 g cm−3, suggests a more rocky interior composition, different from the H2O-ice surface. Recently, Haumea has become the second KBO after Pluto to show observable signs of surface features. A region darker and redder than the average surface of Haumea has been identified, the composition and origin of which remain unknown. I discuss this recent finding and what it may tell us about Haumea.

Col-OSSOS: Investigating Outlying Surfaces within the Kuiper Belt's Neutral Coloured Objects

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Buchanan ◽  
Megan Schwamb ◽  
Wesley Fraser ◽  
Michele Bannister ◽  
Michaël Marsset ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt Object ◽  
Broadband Absorption ◽  
Colour Measurements ◽  
Infrared Spectral ◽  
Colour Distribution ◽  
Absorption Features

<p>Within the outer Solar System exists the Kuiper belt. This Kuiper belt is made up of many icy planetesimals, the remaining relics of planet-forming bodies that failed to evolve into a planet beyond Neptune. The smaller members of the Kuiper belt (with <em>r</em> mag > 22) generally show linear and featureless spectra. Additionally, due to the dimness of these objects observing their spectra can be particularly difficult. Therefore, broadband photometry is often used to characterise their surfaces. The broadband photometry can be used as a proxy for composition, as it provides enough information to characterise the optical and near-infrared spectral slopes ofthese Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) surfaces.</p> <p>The Colours of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (Col-OSSOS, Schwamb et al., 2019) took near-simultaneous <em>g-</em>, <em>r-</em> and <em>J-band</em> broadband photometry of a sample of KBOs with unprecedented precision using the Gemini North telescope. As with previous colour surveys (e.g. Tegler et al., 2016), they showed abimodal colour distribution in optical / near-infrared colours for the dynamically ‘hot’ population. We split this colour distribution into the ‘neutral’ coloured population with <em>(</em><em>g−r</em><em>)</em> < 0.75 and the ‘red’ coloured populationwith <em>(</em><em>g−r</em><em>)</em> ≥ 0.75.</p> <p>The preciseness of the colour measurements of Col-OSSOS has allowed the identification of several KBOs with outlying surface colours. These objects separated out from the rest of the neutral cloud in <em>(</em><em>g−r</em><em>)</em> versus <em>(r−J</em><em>)</em> colours, with <em>(</em><em>g−r</em><em>)</em> colour near solar colour. Using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii we have taken extra photometry in the <em>i</em><em>−</em> and <em>z−</em><em>bands</em> for three of these objects (2013 JE64, 2013 JR65 and 2014 UL225). These additional filter observations will allow us to identify any possible broadband absorption features on these object’s surfaces that may have caused their outlying surface colours. Asteroid interloper 2004 EW95 (Seccull et al., 2018), along with some Jupiter Trojans and C-type asteroids (Bus & Binzel, 2002; DeMeo & Carry,2013) have been shown to have similar near solar neutral surfaces. In this presentation we will report resultsof the <em>griz</em> photometry of 2013 JE64, 2013 JR65 and 2014 UL225. We will make comparisons between these results and the photometry of previously identified outlying KBOs and comment on any possible similarities.</p> <p><strong>References</strong></p> <p>Bus, S. J., & Binzel, R. P. 2002, Icarus, 158, 146<br />DeMeo, F. E., & Carry, B. 2013, Icarus, 226, 723<br />Schwamb, M. E., Bannister, M. T., Marsset, M., et al. 2019, ApJS, 243, 12<br />Seccull, T., Fraser, W. C., Puzia, T. H., Brown, M. E., & Schönebeck, F. 2018, ApJ, Letters, 855, L26<br />Tegler, S. C., Romanishin, W., Consolmagno, G. J., & J., S. 2016, AJ, 152, 210</p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document