Related papers: Evolution of MU69 from a binary planetesimal into …
Following its flyby and first imaging the Pluto-Charon binary, the New Horizons spacecraft visited the Kuiper-Belt-Object (KBO) (486958) 2014 MU69 (Arrokoth). Imaging showed MU69 to be a contact-binary, made of two individual lobes…
The Kuiper Belt is a distant region of the Solar System. On 1 January 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew close to (486958) 2014 MU69, a Cold Classical Kuiper Belt Object, a class of objects that have never been heated by the Sun and are…
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…
Evidence of secular dynamical evolution for detached active binary orbits are presented. First order decreasing rates of orbital angular momentum (OAM), systemic mass ($M=M_{1}+M_{2}$) and orbital period of detached active binaries have…
In this paper we study the role of dynamical friction on the evolution of a population of large objects ($m>10^{22}$ g) at heliocentric distances $>70$ AU in the Kuiper Belt. We show that the already flat distribution of these objects must…
The non-resonant Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) between the 3:2 and 2:1 Neptunian mean motion resonances can be largely divided between a cold classical belt (CCB) and a hot classical belt (HCB). A notable difference between these two…
It appears that at least several percent of large Kuiper belt objects are members of wide binaries. Physical collisions are too infrequent to account for their formation. Collisionless gravitational interactions are more promising. These…
This chapter summarizes analytic theory and numerical calculations for the formation and collisional evolution of KBOs at 20--150 AU. We describe the main predictions of a baseline self-stirring model and show how dynamical perturbations…
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 New Horizons spacecraft's encounter with the cold classical Kuiper belt object (486958) Arrokoth (formerly 2014 MU69) revealed a contact-binary planetesimal. We investigate how it formed, finding it is the product of a gentle, low-speed…
A new scenario for evolution of contact binaries is presented and discussed. Arguments are given that W UMa-type systems are formed from detached binaries which lose angular momentum via magnetized wind. This takes typically several Gyr.…
Much of the dynamical structure of the Kuiper belt can be explained if Neptune migrated over several AU, and/or if Neptune was scattered to an eccentric orbit during planetary instability. An outstanding problem with the existing formation…
The widely-separated, near-equal mass binaries hosted by the cold Classical Kuiper Belt are delicately bound and subject to disruption by many perturbing processes. We use analytical arguments and numerical simulations to determine their…
A set of 27 evolutionary models of cool close binaries was computed under the assumption that their evolution is influenced by the magnetized winds. Initial periods of 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 d were considered. For each period three values of 1.3,…
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…
The discovery that many trans-neptunian objects exist in pairs, or binaries, is proving invaluable for shedding light on the formation, evolution and structure of the outer Solar system. Based on recent systematic searches it has been…
The Cold Classical Kuiper Belt, a class of small bodies in undisturbed orbits beyond Neptune, are primitive objects preserving information about Solar System formation. The New Horizons spacecraft flew past one of these objects, the 36 km…
We describe planetesimal accretion calculations in the Kuiper Belt. Our evolution code simulates planetesimal growth in a single annulus and includes velocity evolution but not fragmentation. Test results match analytic solutions and…
With the discovery of Kuiper Belt binaries that have wide separations and roughly equal masses new theories were proposed to explain their formation. Two formation scenarios were suggested by Goldreich and collaborators: In the first,…
Observations of the Kuiper Belt indicate that a larger than expected percentage of KBO's (approximately 8 out of 500) are in binary pairs. The formation and survival of such objects presents a conundrum [1]. Two competing theories have been…