scholarly journals THE HUBBLE WIDE FIELD CAMERA 3 TEST OF SURFACES IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM: THE COMPOSITIONAL CLASSES OF THE KUIPER BELT

2012 ◽  
Vol 749 (1) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley C. Fraser ◽  
Michael E. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
Outer Solar 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.

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.

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>

scholarly journals Effects of Multiple Planetary Encounters on Kuiper Belt Objects

2002 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 243-244
Author(s):  
Ştefan Berinde
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Diffusion Process ◽  
Statistical Approach ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Giant Planets ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt Objects ◽  
Easy Task ◽  
Close Encounters ◽  
Long Time

Nowadays many attempts are made to establish a qualitative and a quantitative connection between Kuiper Belt Population and Jupiter Family Comets. Basically, this can be thought as a diffusion process throughout the outer Solar System due to multiple close encounters with the giant planets. But, following the path of a body in such a process is not an easy task to be approached analytically nor numerically, because the motion is very chaotic and spread over a long time. A statistical approach seems to be a reasonable way and is the purpose of this paper.

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.

The contribution of Centaur-emitted dust to the interplanetary dust distribution

2019 ◽  
Vol 490 (2) ◽  
pp. 2421-2429 ◽  
Author(s):  
A R Poppe
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Mass Loss ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Dust Grains ◽  
Kuiper Belt Objects ◽  
Dust Density ◽  
Outer Planets ◽  
Current Mass

ABSTRACT Interplanetary dust grains originate from a variety of source bodies, including comets, asteroids, and Edgeworth–Kuiper belt objects. Centaurs, generally defined as those objects with orbits that cross the outer planets, have occasionally been observed to exhibit cometary-like outgassing at distances beyond Jupiter, implying that they may be an important source of dust grains in the outer Solar system. Here, we use an interplanetary dust grain dynamics model to study the behaviour and equilibrium distribution of Centaur-emitted interplanetary dust grains. We focus on the five Centaurs with the highest current mass-loss rates: 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1, 166P/2001 T4, 174P/Echeclus, C/2001 M10, and P/2004 A1, which together comprise 98 per cent of the current mass loss from all Centaurs. Our simulations show that Centaur-emitted dust grains with radii s < 2 μm have median lifetimes consistent with Poynting–Robertson (P–R) drag lifetimes, while grains with radii s > 2 μm have median lifetimes much shorter than their P–R drag lifetimes, suggesting that dynamical interactions with the outer planets are effective in scattering larger grains, in analogy to the relatively short lifetimes of Centaurs themselves. Equilibrium density distributions of grains emitted from specific Centaurs show a variety of structure including local maxima in the outer Solar system and azimuthal asymmetries, depending on the orbital elements of the parent Centaur. Finally, we compare the total Centaur interplanetary dust density to dust produced from Edgeworth–Kuiper belt objects, Jupiter-family comets, and Oort cloud comets, and conclude that Centaur-emitted dust may be an important component between 5 and 15 au, contributing approximately 25 per cent of the local interplanetary dust density at Saturn.

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 OSS (Outer Solar System): a fundamental and planetary physics mission to Neptune, Triton and the Kuiper Belt

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Christophe ◽  
L. J. Spilker ◽  
J. D. Anderson ◽  
N. André ◽  
S. W. Asmar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Kuiper Belt ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
System A
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