Related papers: From KBOs to Centaurs: The Thermal Connection
We describe analytical and numerical collisional evolution calculations for the size distribution of icy bodies in the Kuiper Belt. For a wide range of bulk properties, initial masses, and orbital parameters, our results yield power-law…
Centaurs are solar system objects with orbits situated among the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune. Centaurs represent one of the sources of Near-Earth Objects. Thus, it is crucial to understand their orbital evolution which in some cases might…
The New Horizons spacecraft's flyby of Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) (486958) Arrokoth revealed a bilobed shape with highly flattened lobes both aligned to its equatorial plane, and a rotational axis almost aligned to the orbital plane…
We examine a large collection of low resolution near-infrared spectra of Kuiper belt objects and centaurs in an attempt to understand the presence of water ice in the Kuiper belt. We find that water ice on the surface of these objects…
Dawson and Murray-Clay (2012) pointed out that the inner part of the cold population in the Kuiper belt (that with semi major axis a<43.5 AU) has orbital eccentricities significantly smaller than the limit imposed by stability constraints.…
Our current knowledge of the dynamical structure of the Kuiper Belt is reviewed here. Numerical results on long term orbital evolution and dynamical mechanisms underlying the transport of objects out of the Kuiper Belt are discussed.…
Inward migration of giant planets is predicted by hydrodynamical simulations during the gas phase of the protoplanetary disc. The phenomenon is also invoked to explain resonant and near-resonant exoplanetary system structures. The early…
The dynamical structure of the Kuiper belt beyond 50 au is not well understood. Here we report results of a numerical model with long-range, slow and grainy migration of Neptune. The model implies that bodies scattered outward by Neptune to…
Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with diameter greater than 100 km currently moving in not too eccentric orbits could be formed directly by the contraction of large rarefied condensations. Along with the gravitational influence of planets,…
Approximately 10-20% of all Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) occupy mean-motion resonances with Neptune. This dynamical configuration likely resulted from resonance capture as Neptune migrated outward during the late stages of planet formation.…
Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) represent some of the most ancient remnants of our solar system, having evaded significant thermal or evolutionary processing. This makes them important targets for exploration as they offer a unique opportunity…
The cold classical population of the Kuiper belt exhibits a wide variety of unique physical characteristics, which collectively suggest that its dynamical coherence has been maintained through out the solar system's lifetime.…
Context. Centaurs are icy objects in transition between the transneptunian region and the inner solar system, orbiting the Sun in the giant planet region. Some Centaurs display cometary activity, which cannot be sustained by the sublimation…
When a main sequence star evolves into a red giant and its Kuiper Belt Object's (KBO's) reach a temperature of about 170 K, the dust released during the rapid ice-sublimation of these cometary bodies may lead to a detectable infrared excess…
The Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) exhibit an orbital clustering of the outer planets lying at perihelion distances larger than Neptune and semimajor axes greater than 150 AU from the Sun. This implies a hitherto unknown dynamical mechanism to…
The near-infrared spectrum of (50000) Quaoar obtained at the Keck Observatory shows distinct absorption features of crystalline water ice, solid methane and ethane, and possibly other higher order hydrocarbons. Quaoar is only the fifth…
Kuiper belt objects, such as Arrokoth, the probable progenitors of short-period comets, formed and evolved at large heliocentric distances, where the ambient temperatures appear to be sufficiently low for preserving volatile ices. By…
We used N-body simulations to model the 4.5 Gyr orbital evolution of the early Kuiper Belt, incorporating a massive protoplanetary disk, the four giant planets, and 1500 primordial Pluto-class bodies ("Plutos") that drove Neptune's grainy…
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…
The orbits of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) can indicate the existence of an undiscovered planet in the outer solar system. Here, we used N-body computer simulations to investigate the effects of a hypothetical Kuiper Belt planet (KBP) on…