Related papers: Kuiper-belt Binary Formation through Exchange Reac…
The majority of binary stars do not eclipse. Current searches for transiting circumbinary planets concentrate on eclipsing binaries, and are therefore restricted to a small fraction of potential hosts. We investigate the concept of finding…
The locations of the fully despun, double synchronous end states of tidal evolution are derived for spherical components. With the exception of nearly equal-mass binaries, binary asteroid systems are in the midst of lengthy tidal…
We examine characteristics of circumbinary orbits in the context of current planet formation scenarios. Analytical perturbation theory predicts the existence of nested circumbinary orbits that are generalizations of circular paths around a…
We measure the absolute magnitude, $H$, distribution, $dN(H) \propto 10^{\alpha H}$ of the scattering Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) as a proxy for their size-frequency distribution. We show that the H-distribution of the scattering TNOs is…
Using the absolute detection calibration and abundant detections of the OSSOS (Outer Solar System Origin Survey) project, we provide population measurements for the main Kuiper Belt. For absolute magnitude $H_r<8.3$, there are 30,000…
The history of the outer solar system is intrinsically related to the Giant Planets migration. A massive disk of material within a radius of 30~au was scattered during the planetary migration, creating different dynamic populations in the…
We present several lines of evidence based on different kinds of observations to conclude that rotational fission has likely occurred for a fraction of the known Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs). It is also likely that a number of binary…
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…
From the results of a comprehensive asteroid population evolution model, we conclude that the YORP-induced rotational fission hypothesis can be consistent with the observed population statistics of small asteroids in the main belt including…
Nearly one-third of objects occupying the most circular, coplanar Kuiper belt orbits (the cold classical belt) are binary, and several percent of them are "ultra-wide" binaries (UWBs): 100-km-sized companions spaced by tens of thousands of…
Possible connections between the physical properties of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEA) and their orbital evolution were explored, with emphasis on binary asteroids. Our main starting hypothesis, suggested from the observations, was that the NEA…
At 30-50 K, the temperatures typical for surfaces in the Kuiper Belt (e.g. Stern & Trafton 2008), only seven species have sublimation pressures higher than 1 nbar (Fray & Schmitt 2009): Ne, N$_2$, CO, Ar, O$_2$, CH$_4$, and Kr. Of these,…
In this letter, we call attention to a gap in binaries in the Kuiper belt in the mass range between $\approx$10$^{19}$-10$^{20}$ kg, with a corresponding dearth in binaries between 4th and 5th absolute magnitude $H$. The low-mass end of the…
We analyze a detailed Nice model simulation of Kuiper Belt emplacement from Brasser & Morbidelli (2013), where Neptune undergoes a high eccentricity phase and migrates outward. In this work, which follows from Pike et al. (2017), we…
The dependences of inclinations of orbits of secondaries in the discovered trans-Neptunian binaries on the distance between the primary and the secondary, on the eccentricity of orbits of the secondary around the primary, on the ratio of…
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,…
We discuss the detectability of gravitationally bounded pairs of gas-giant planets (which we call "binary planets") in extrasolar planetary systems that are formed through orbital instability followed by planet-planet dynamical tides during…
The trans-Neptunian region of the solar system exhibits an intricate dynamical structure, much of which can be explained by an instability-driven orbital history of the giant planets. However, the origins of a highly inclined, and in…
Kuiper Belt objects with absolute magnitude less than 3 (radius $\gtrsim$500 km), the dwarf planets, have a range of different ice/rock ratios, and are more rock-rich than their smaller counterparts. Many of these objects have moons, which…
The number of binary asteroids in the near-Earth region might be significantly higher than expected. While Bottke and Melosh (1996) suggested that about 15% of the NEAs are binaries, as indicated from the frequency of double craters, and…