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result(s) for
"Trans-Neptunian objects"
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To Pluto & beyond : the amazing voyage of New Horizons
\"[This book] introduces young readers to New Horizons, the space ship that NASA built to explore Pluto and the fringes of our solar system\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Long-term orbital dynamics of trans-Neptunian objects
This article reviews the different mechanisms affecting the orbits of trans-Neptunian objects, ranging from internal perturbations (planetary scattering, mean-motion resonances, and secular effects) to external perturbations (galactic tides and passing stars). We outline the theoretical tools that can be used to model and study them, focussing on analytical approaches. We eventually compare these mechanisms to the observed distinct populations of trans-Neptunian objects and conclude on how they participate to the sculpting of the whole distribution.
Journal Article
The big backyard : the solar system beyond Pluto
\"Deep space holds materials left over from the formation of the solar system. Astronomers have been making exciting discoveries on the outermost fringes and the New Horizons spacecraft brings new insights into the origins of the sun and planets\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Non-resonant secular dynamics of trans-Neptunian objects perturbed by a distant super-Earth
We use a secular model to describe the non-resonant dynamics of trans-Neptunian objects in the presence of an external ten-Earth-mass perturber. The secular dynamics is analogous to an “eccentric Kozai mechanism” but with both an inner component (the four giant planets) and an outer one (the eccentric distant perturber). By the means of Poincaré sections, the cases of a non-inclined or inclined outer planet are successively studied, making the connection with previous works. In the inclined case, the problem is reduced to two degrees of freedom by assuming a non-precessing argument of perihelion for the perturbing body. The size of the perturbation is typically ruled by the semi-major axis of the small body: we show that the classic integrable picture is still valid below about 70 AU, but it is progressively destroyed when we get closer to the external perturber. In particular, for
a
>
150
AU, large-amplitude orbital flips become possible, and for
a
>
200
AU, the Kozai libration islands at
ω
=
π
/
2
and
3
π
/
2
are totally submerged by the chaotic sea. Numerous resonance relations are highlighted. The most large and persistent ones are associated with apsidal alignments or anti-alignments with the orbit of the distant perturber.
Journal Article
Dynamic Evolution of Pairs of Trans-Neptunian Objects
A search for pairs of trans-Neptunian objects in close orbits with semimajor axes of more than 30 AU has been performed. Distances in space of Keplerian orbits were estimated using the Kholshevnikov metrics. We revealed 26 pairs of trans-Neptunian objects with metrics less than 0.07 (AU)
1/2
. Based on nominal orbits, the dynamic evolution of pairs of trans-Neptunian objects in the past over a time interval of 10 million years has been studied numerically. For the pair 2003 QL91—2015 VA173, a study of probabilistic evolution was carried out in the past over a time interval of 10 million years. Estimates of the age of pairs of trans-Neptunian objects obtained by various methods: analysis of low-speed approaches of objects, convergence of orbits, approaches of lines of nodes and apses, give conflicting results. The age of most of the pairs considered exceeds 10 million years.
Journal Article
Inclined asymmetric librations in exterior resonances
Librational motion in Celestial Mechanics is generally associated with the existence of stable resonant configurations and signified by the existence of stable periodic solutions and oscillation of critical (resonant) angles. When such an oscillation takes place around a value different than 0 or π, the libration is called asymmetric. In the context of the planar circular restricted three-body problem, asymmetric librations have been identified for the exterior mean motion resonances (MMRs) 1:2, 1:3, etc., as well as for co-orbital motion (1:1). In exterior MMRs the massless body is the outer one. In this paper, we study asymmetric librations in the three-dimensional space. We employ the computational approach of Markellos (Mon Not R Astron Soc 184:273–281, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/184.2.273, 1978) and compute families of asymmetric periodic orbits and their stability. Stable asymmetric periodic orbits are surrounded in phase space by domains of initial conditions which correspond to stable evolution and librating resonant angles. Our computations were focused on the spatial circular restricted three-body model of the Sun–Neptune–TNO system (TNO = trans-Neptunian object). We compare our results with numerical integrations of observed TNOs, which reveal that some of them perform 1:2 resonant, inclined asymmetric librations. For the stable 1:2 TNO librators, we find that their libration seems to be related to the vertically stable planar asymmetric orbits of our model, rather than the three-dimensional ones found in the present study.
Journal Article
Impact craters on Pluto and Charon indicate a deficit of small Kuiper belt objects
The flyby of Pluto and Charon by the New Horizons spacecraft provided high-resolution images of cratered surfaces embedded in the Kuiper belt, an extensive region of bodies orbiting beyond Neptune. Impact craters on Pluto and Charon were formed by collisions with other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) with diameters from ∼40 kilometers to ∼300 meters, smaller than most KBOs observed directly by telescopes. We find a relative paucity of small craters ≲13 kilometers in diameter, which cannot be explained solely by geological resurfacing. This implies a deficit of small KBOs (≲1 to 2 kilometers in diameter). Some surfaces on Pluto and Charon are likely ≳4 billion years old, thus their crater records provide information on the size-frequency distribution of KBOs in the early Solar System.
Journal Article
Initial results from the New Horizons exploration of 2014 MU69, a small Kuiper Belt object
The Kuiper Belt is a broad, torus-shaped region in the outer Solar System beyond Neptune’s orbit. It contains primordial planetary building blocks and dwarf planets. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft conducted a flyby of Pluto and its system of moons on 14 July 2015. New Horizons then continued farther into the Kuiper Belt, adjusting its trajectory to fly close to the small Kuiper Belt object (486958) 2014 MU69 (henceforth MU69; also informally known as Ultima Thule). Stellar occultation observations in 2017 showed that MU69 was ~25 to 35 km in diameter, and therefore smaller than the diameter of Pluto (2375 km) by a factor of ~100 and less massive than Pluto by a factor of ~106. MU69 is located about 1.6 billion kilometers farther from the Sun than Pluto was at the time of the New Horizons flyby. MU69’s orbit indicates that it is a “cold classical” Kuiper Belt object, thought to be the least dynamically evolved population in the Solar System. A major goal of flying past this target is to investigate accretion processes in the outer Solar System and how those processes led to the formation of the planets. Because no small Kuiper Belt object had previously been explored by spacecraft, we also sought to provide a close-up look at such a body’s geology and composition, and to search for satellites, rings, and evidence of present or past atmosphere. We report initial scientific results and interpretations from that flyby.
Journal Article
The geology and geophysics of Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth
The Cold Classical Kuiper Belt, a class of small bodies in undisturbed orbits beyond Neptune, is composed of primitive objects preserving information about Solar System formation. In January 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew past one of these objects, the 36-kilometer-long contact binary (486958) Arrokoth (provisional designation 2014 MU₆₉). Images from the flyby show that Arrokoth has no detectable rings, and no satellites (larger than 180 meters in diameter) within a radius of 8000 kilometers. Arrokoth has a lightly cratered, smooth surface with complex geological features, unlike those on previously visited Solar System bodies. The density of impact craters indicates the surface dates from the formation of the Solar System. The two lobes of the contact binary have closely aligned poles and equators, constraining their accretion mechanism.
Journal Article
A dense ring of the trans-Neptunian object Quaoar outside its Roche limit
Planetary rings are observed not only around giant planets
1
, but also around small bodies such as the Centaur Chariklo
2
and the dwarf planet Haumea
3
. Up to now, all known dense rings were located close enough to their parent bodies, being inside the Roche limit, where tidal forces prevent material with reasonable densities from aggregating into a satellite. Here we report observations of an inhomogeneous ring around the trans-Neptunian body (50000) Quaoar. This trans-Neptunian object has an estimated radius
4
of 555 km and possesses a roughly 80-km satellite
5
(Weywot) that orbits at 24 Quaoar radii
6
,
7
. The detected ring orbits at 7.4 radii from the central body, which is well outside Quaoar’s classical Roche limit, thus indicating that this limit does not always determine where ring material can survive. Our local collisional simulations show that elastic collisions, based on laboratory experiments
8
, can maintain a ring far away from the body. Moreover, Quaoar’s ring orbits close to the 1/3 spin–orbit resonance
9
with Quaoar, a property shared by Chariklo’s
2
,
10
,
11
and Haumea’s
3
rings, suggesting that this resonance plays a key role in ring confinement for small bodies.
The authors report observations of a dense and inhomogeneous ring at a surprisingly large distance from the trans-Neptunian body Quaoar.
Journal Article