Related papers: The Compositions of Kuiper Belt Objects
Observations of circumstellar disks around stars as a function of stellar properties such as mass, metallicity, multiplicity, and age, provide constraints on theories concerning the formation and evolution of planetary systems. Utilizing…
Freeze-out of the gas phase elements onto cold grains in dense interstellar and circumstellar media builds up ice mantles consisting of molecules that are mostly formed in situ (H2O, NH3, CO2, CO, CH3OH, and more). This review summarizes…
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…
This paper shows that the inclinations of bodies captured into mean motion resonances in the Kuiper belt have remained very nearly unchanged, being only slightly increased from initial lower values by migration and/or by long-term planetary…
Here we present additional photometry of targets observed as part of the Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 Test of Surfaces in the Outer Solar System. 12 targets were re-observed with the Wide Field Camera 3 in optical and NIR wavebands designed…
A relationship between the average orbital radii of the planets and their satellites in the solar system and the spectra of atomic and molecular hydrogen is identified and investigated. In this model, stimulated radiative association…
The interest in the structure of ice-rich planetary bodies, in particular the differentiation between ice and rock, has grown due to the discovery of Kuiper belt objects and exoplanets. We thus carry out a parameter study for a range of…
More than four decades after the discovery of pulsars, the composition of matter at their cores is still a mystery. This white paper summarizes how recent high-precision measurements of millisecond pulsar masses have introduced new…
Observations of circumstellar disks provide a powerful tool for our understanding of planetary systems dynamics. Analogs to the Solar System asteroid belts, debris disks result from the collision of the remaining solid material of the…
We show the effects of the perturbation caused by a passing by star on the Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) of our Solar System. The dynamics of the Kuiper belt (KB) is followed by direct $N$-body simulations. The sampling of the KB has been done…
Stars grow by accreting gas that has an evolving composition owing to the growth and inward drift of dust (pebble wave), the formation of planetesimals and planets, and the selective removal of hydrogen and helium by disk winds. We…
Since molecules are ubiquitous in space, the study of the 'Molecular Universe' could unfold the mystery of the existing Interstellar medium. Star formation is linked to the chemical evolution processes. Thus, an analysis of the formation of…
For much of human history we have wondered how our solar system formed, and whether there are any other planets like ours around other stars. Only in the last 20 years have we had direct evidence for the existence of exoplanets, with the…
We report high precision photometry of three small and one larger Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (ACS/HST). The three small bodies are the smallest KBOs for which…
Detailed characterization of an extrasolar planet's atmosphere provides the best hope for distinguishing the makeup of its outer layers, and the only hope for understanding the interplay between initial composition, chemistry, dynamics &…
Many stars -- if they could be imaged with enough angular resolution -- would exhibit features expected from theory but not possible to extract from spectra. We may group these by increasing complexity as follows. First, smooth variations…
We present a new near-infrared photometric system for detection of water ice and methane ice in the solar system. The system consists of two medium-band filters in the K-band region of the near-infrared, which are sensitive to water ice and…
(Abridged) Thirty-three objects with possible origins beyond the Kuiper Belt edge, very high inclinations, very large semi-major axes or large perihelion distances were observed to determine their surface colors. All three objects that have…
The direct images of giant extrasolar planets recently obtained around several main sequence stars represent a major step in the study of planetary systems. These high-dynamic range images are among the most striking results obtained by the…
We have used recent surveys of the composition of exoplanet host stars to investigate the expected composition of condensed material in planetesimals formed beyond the snow line in the circumstellar nebulae of these systems. Of the major…