Related papers: The Structure of the Distant Kuiper Belt in a Nice…
It often seems as though papers bearing titles in the form of a question end with ambiguous answers. Here the situation is different: the outer Kuiper belt does have a definite future, although one of uncertain duration. Simulations provide…
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.…
The small bodies in the Kuiper Belt region of the distant Solar System are leftovers from planet formation. Their orbital distribution today tells us about how giant planets migrated, while their surface properties, shapes, and sizes tell…
We explore a simplified model of the outcome of an early outer Solar System gravitational upheaval during which objects were captured into Neptune's 3:2 mean motion resonance via scattering rather than smooth planetary migration. We use…
Recent observations (Burnes2002,Veillet2002,Margot2002a) have revealed an unexpectedly high binary fraction among the Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) that populate the Kuiper Belt. The TNO binaries are strikingly different from asteroid…
We explore the origin and orbital evolution of the Kuiper belt in the framework of a recent model of the dynamical evolution of the giant planets, sometimes known as the Nice model. This model is characterized by a short, but violent,…
The current populations trapped in Neptune's main mean motion resonances in the Kuiper belt, Plutinos in the 3:2 and Twotinos in the 2:1, contain some of the best-characterized minor objects in the Solar System, given their dynamical…
(Abridged) Using an efficient computational approach, we have reconstructed the structure of the dust cloud in the Solar system between 0.5 and 100 AU produced by the Kuiper belt objects. Our simulations offer a 3-D physical model of the…
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.…
A substantial fraction of our solar system's trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are in mean motion resonance with Neptune. Many of these objects were likely caught into resonances by planetary migration---either smooth or…
The Kuiper belt is a population of icy bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. A particularly puzzling and up-to-now unexplained feature of the Kuiper belt is the so-called `kernel', a concentration of orbits with semimajor axes a~44 AU,…
The detached transneptunian objects (TNOs) are those with semimajor axes beyond the 2:1 resonance with Neptune, which are neither resonant nor scattering. Using the detached sample from the OSSOS telescopic survey, we produce the first…
We report the orbital distribution of the trans-neptunian objects (TNOs) discovered during the Canada-France Ecliptic Plane Survey, whose discovery phase ran from early 2003 until early 2007. The follow-up observations started just after…
Observations of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) in Neptune's 5:2 resonance present two puzzles: this third order resonance hosts a surprisingly large population, comparable to the prominent populations of Plutinos and Twotinos in the first order…
The Kuiper belt includes tens of thousands of large bodies and millions of smaller objects. The main part of the belt objects is located in the annular zone between 39.4 au and 47.8 au from the Sun, the boundaries correspond to the average…
Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are remnants of a collisionally and dynamically evolved planetesimal disk in the outer solar system. This complex structure, known as the trans-Neptunian belt (or Edgeworth-Kuiper belt), can reveal important…
We report the discovery, tracking and detection circumstances for 85 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) from the first 42 deg$^{2}$ of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS). This ongoing $r$-band Solar System survey uses the 0.9…
The dynamical structure of the Kuiper belt can be used as a clue to the formation and evolution of the Solar System, planetary systems in general, and Neptune's early orbital history in particular. The problem is best addressed by forward…
Resonant dynamics plays a significant role in the past evolution and current state of our outer Solar System. The population ratios and spatial distribution of Neptune's resonant populations are direct clues to understanding the history of…
The observed physical clustering of the orbits of small bodies in the distant Kuiper Belt (TNOs) has recently prompted the prediction of an additional planet in the outer solar system. Since the initial posing of the hypothesis, the effects…