We have derived a model of the Kuiper belt luminosity function exhibited by a broken power-law size distribution. This model allows direct comparison of the observed luminosity function to the underlying size distribution. We discuss the importance of the radial distribution model in determining the break diameter. We determine a best-fit break-diameter of the Kuiper belt size-distribution of 30<Db<90 km via a maximum-likelihood fit of our model to the observed luminosity function. We also confirm that the observed luminosity function for m(R) ~ 21-28 is consistent with a broken power-law size distribution, and exhibits a break at m(R)=26.0+0.7-1.8.
This chapter discusses the dynamical properties of the Kuiper belt population. Then, it focuses on the characteristics of the Kuiper belt that cannot be explained by its evolution in the framework of the current solar system. We review models of primordial solar system evolution that have been proposed to reproduce the Kuiper belt features, outlining advantages and problems of each of them.
Our current knowledge of the dynamical structure of the Kuiper Belt is reviewed here. Numerical results on long term orbital evolution and dynamical mechanisms underlying the transport of objects out of the Kuiper Belt are discussed. Scenarios about the origin of the highly non-uniform orbital distribution of Kuiper Belt objects are described, as well as the constraints these provide on the formation and long term dynamical evolution of the outer Solar system. Possible mechanisms include an early history of orbital migration of the outer planets, a mass loss phase in the outer Solar system and…
We propose a new mechanism of drag-induced resonant capture, which can explain the resonant Kuiper Belt Objects in a natural way. A review and comparison with the traditional mechanism of sweeping capture by the migrating Neptune will be given.
Collisions are a major modification process over the history of the Kuiper Belt. Recent work illuminates the complex array of possible outcomes of individual collisions onto porous, volatile bodies. The cumulative effects of such collisions on the surface features, composition, and internal structure of Kuiper Belt Objects are not yet known. In this chapter, we present the current state of knowledge of the physics of cratering and disruptive collisions in KBO analog materials. We summarize the evidence for a rich collisional history in the Kuiper Belt and present the range possible physical mo…
We have obtained a near infrared spectrum of the brightest satellite of the large Kuiper Belt Object, 2003 EL61. The spectrum has absorption features at 1.5 and 2.0 microns, indicating that water ice is present on the surface. We find that the satellite's absorption lines are much deeper than water ice features typically found on Kuiper Belt Objects. We argue that the unusual spectrum indicates that the satellite was likely formed by impact and not by capture.
The near-infrared spectrum of (50000) Quaoar obtained at the Keck Observatory shows distinct absorption features of crystalline water ice, solid methane and ethane, and possibly other higher order hydrocarbons. Quaoar is only the fifth Kuiper belt object on which volatile ices have been detected. The small amount of methane on an otherwise water ice dominated surface suggests that Quaoar is a transition object between the dominant volatile-poor small Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) and the few volatile-rich large KBOs such as Pluto and Eris.
Almost all of the $>600$ known Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) have been discovered within 50 AU of the Sun. One possible explanation for the observed lack of KBOs beyond 50 AU is that the distant Kuiper belt is dynamically very cold, and thus thin enough on the sky to have slipped between previous deep survey fields. We have completed a survey designed to search for a dynamically cold distant Kuiper belt near the invariable plane of the Solar system. In $2.3 {\rm deg}^2$ we have discovered a total of 33 KBOs and 1 Centaur, but no objects in circular orbits beyond 50 AU. We find that we can exclude…
By numerically integrating the orbits of the giant planets and of test particles over a period of four billion years, we follow the evolution of the location of the midplane of the Kuiper belt. The Classical Kuiper belt conforms to a warped sheet that precesses with a 1.9 Myr period. The present-day location of the Kuiper belt plane can be computed using linear secular perturbation theory: the local normal to the plane is given by the theory's forced inclination vector, which is specific to every semimajor axis. The Kuiper belt plane does not coincide with the invariable plane, but deviates fr…
We have searched the four brightest objects in the Kuiper belt for the presence of satellites using the newly commissioned Keck Observatory Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics system. Satellites are seen around three of the four objects: Pluto (whose satellite Charon is well-known), 2003 EL61, and 2003 UB313. The object 2005 FY9, the brightest Kuiper belt object after Pluto, does not have a satellite detectable within 0.4 arcseconds with a brightness of more than 0.5% of the primary. The presence of satellites to 3 of the 4 brightest Kuiper belt objects is inconsistent with the fraction of satell…
It has been observed that binary Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) exist contrary to theoretical expectations. Their creation presents problems to most current models. However, the inclusion of a third body (for example, one of the outer planets) may provide the conditions necessary for the formation of these objects. The presence of a third massive body not only helps to clear the primordial Kuiper Belt but can also result in long lived binary Kuiper belt objects. The gravitational interaction between the KBOs and the third body causes one of four effects; scattering into the Oort cloud, collisions …
We present a new analysis of the currently available orbital elements for the known Kuiper belt objects. In the non-resonant, main Kuiper belt we find a statistically significant relationship between an object's absolute magnitude (H) and its inclination (i). Objects with H<6.5 (i.e. radii >~170 km for a 4% albedo) have higher inclinations than those with H>6.5 (radii >~ 170 km). We have shown that this relationship is not caused by any obvious observational bias. We argue that the main Kuiper belt consists of the superposition of two distinct distributions. One is dynamically hot with inclina…
The Kuiper Belt (KB) region of the solar system, stretching from 30 to at least 50 AU, contains Pluto-Charon, some ~105 Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) larger than 100 km in diameter, and myriad smaller bodies produced by collisions among KBOs (Farinella, Davis, & Stern 2000). The most notable physical attribute of the KBOs discovered to date is their reflectance color diversity, ranging from gray (i.e., neutral) to very red (Tegler & Romanishin 2000). We report here evidence for a statistical correlation between the colors of KBOs and the mean random impact speed that these objects experience, len…
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, instability phase, during which the planets were on large eccentricity orbits. One characteristic of this model is that the proto-planetary disk must have been truncated at roughly 30 to 35 AU so that Neptune would stop migrating at its currently observed location. As a result, the Kuiper belt would have initially been empty. In this paper we present a new dynami…
A considerable portion of near-Earth objects could have come from the trans-Neptunian belt. Some of them have aphelia deep inside Jupiter's orbit during more than 1 Myr.
Neptune's largest satellite, Triton, is one of the most fascinating and enigmatic bodies in the solar system. Among its numerous interesting traits, Triton appears to have far fewer craters than would be expected if its surface was primordial. Here we combine the best available crater count data for Triton with improved estimates of impact rates by including the Kuiper Belt as a source of impactors. We find that the population of impactors creating the smallest observed craters on Triton must be sub-km in scale, and that this small-impactor population can be best fit by a differential power-la…
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 flatten further due to non-spherically symmetric distribution of matter in the Kuiper Belt. Moreover the dynamical drag, produced by dynamical friction, causes objects of masses $\geq 10^{24} g$ to lose angular momentum and to fall through more central regions in a timescale $\approx 10^9 yr$. This mechanism is able to transport inwards objects of the size o…
We extend previous results showing that the surfaces of Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt objects are not primordial and have been moderately to heavily reworked by collisions. Objects smaller than about $r = 2.5$ km have collisional disruption lifetimes less than 3.5 Gyr in the present-day collisional environment and have been heavily damaged in their interiors by large collisions. In the 30--50 AU region, impacts of 1 km radius comets onto individual 100 km radius objects occur on $7\times10^7$--$4\times10^8$ yr timescales, cratering the surfaces of the larger objects with $\sim$8--54 craters 6 km in di…
We present a procedure for determination of positions and orbital elements, and associated uncertainties, of outer Solar System planets. The orbit-fitting procedure is greatly streamlined compared to traditional methods because acceleration can be treated as a perturbation to the inertial motion of the body. These techniques are immediately applicable to Kuiper Belt Objects, for which recovery observations are costly. Our methods produce positional estimates and uncertainty ellipses even in the face of the substantial degeneracies of short-arc orbit fits; the sole a priori assumption is that t…
We describe new planetesimal accretion calculations in the Kuiper Belt that include fragmentation and velocity evolution. All models produce two power law cumulative size distributions, N_C propto r^{-q}, with q = 2.5 for radii less than 0.3-3 km and q = 3 for radii exceeding 1-3 km. The power law indices are nearly independent of the initial mass in the annulus, the initial eccentricity of the planetesimal swarm, and the initial size distribution of the planetesimal swarm. The transition between the two power laws moves to larger radii as the initial eccentricity increases. The maximum size o…
A modified Baker-Nunn camera was used to conduct a wide-field survey of 1428 square degrees of sky near the ecliptic in search of bright Kuiper Belt objects and Centaurs. This area is an order of magnitude larger than any previously published CCD survey for Centaurs and Kuiper Belt Objects. No new objects brighter than red magnitude m=18.8 and moving at a rate 1"/hr to 20"/hr were discovered, although one previously discovered Centaur 1997 CU26 Chariklo was serendipitously detected. The parameters of the survey were characterized using both visual and automated techniques. From this survey the…
We discuss the current knowledge of the Solar system, focusing on bodies in the outer regions, on the information they provide concerning Solar system formation, and on the possible relationships that may exist between our system and the debris disks of other stars. Beyond the domains of the Terrestrial and giant planets, the comets in the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud preserve some of our most pristine materials. The Kuiper belt, in particular, is a collisional dust source and a scientific bridge to the dusty "debris disks" observed around many nearby main-sequence stars. Study of the Solar …
Pioneer 10 and 11 were the first probes sent to study the outer planets of the Solar System and Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to leave the Solar System. Besides their already epic journeys, Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft were subjected to an unaccounted effect interpreted as a constant acceleration toward the Sun, the so-called Pioneer anomaly. One of the possibilities put forward for explaining the Pioneer anomaly is the gravitational acceleration of the Kuiper Belt. In this work we examine this hypothesis for various models for the Kuiper Belt mass distribution. We find that the gravitat…
We use analytic techniques to study the gravitational force that would be produced by different Kuiper-Belt mass distributions. In particular, we study the 3-dimensional rings (and wedge) whose densities vary as the inverse of the distance, as a constant, as the inverse-squared of the distance, as well as that which varies according to the Boss-Peale model. These analytic calculations yield physical insight into the physics of the problem. They also verify that physically viable models of this type can produce neither the magnitude nor the constancy of the Pioneer anomaly.
We have measured broadband optical BVR photometry of 24 Classical and Scattered Kuiper belt objects (KBOs), approximately doubling the published sample of colors for these classes of objects. We find a statistically significant correlation between object color and inclination in the Classical Kuiper belt using our data. The color and inclination correlation increases in significance after the inclusion of additional data points culled from all published works. Apparently, this color and inclination correlation has not been more widely reported because the Plutinos show no such correlation, and…
We present the discovery of three new Scattered Kuiper Belt Objects (SKBOs) from a wide-field survey of the ecliptic. This continuing survey has to date covered 20.2 square degrees to a limiting red magnitude of 23.6. We combine the data from this new survey with an existing survey conducted at the University of Hawaii 2.2m telescope to constrain the number and mass of the SKBOs. The SKBOs are characterized by large eccentricities, perihelia near 35 AU, and semi-major axes > 50 AU. Using a maximum-likelihood model, we estimate the total number of SKBOs larger than 100 km in diameter to be N = …
Motivated by a desire to understand the size distributon of the Kuiper Belt, an observing program was conducted at the Mount Palomar 5-m telescope from 1994-1996. The observations consisted of follow-up observations of known objects (in order to improve their very indeterminate orbits), and deep exposures on a single field to search for small objects below the limiting magnitudes of other surveys. Eighteen object recoveries were successfully obtained over the course of the follow-up program. Data reduction of the deep fields consisted of a software recombination of many fields shifted at diffe…
(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 `kuiperoidal' dust cloud based on the distribution of 280 dust particle trajectories produced by 100 known Kuiper belt objects ; the resulting 3-D grid consists of $1.9\times 10^6$ cells containing $1.2\times 10^{11}$ particle positions. The following processes that influence the dust particle dynamics are taken into account: 1) gravitational scattering on the…
Extensive time-resolved observations of Kuiper Belt object 2001 QG298 show a lightcurve with a peak-to-peak variation of 1.14 +-0.04 magnitudes and single-peaked period of 6.8872 +- 0.0002 hr. The mean absolute magnitude is 6.85 magnitudes which corresponds to a mean effective radius of 122 (77) km if an albedo of 0.04 (0.10) is assumed. This is the first known Kuiper Belt object and only the third minor planet with a radius > 25 km to display a lightcurve with a range in excess of 1 magnitude. We find the colors to be typical for a Kuiper Belt object (B-V = 1.00 +- 0.04, V-R = 0.60 +- 0.02) w…
The early gas-dust solar nebula is considered: the gasdynamic theory is used to study the gravitational Jeans-type instability in its protoplanetary disk. The implications for the origin of the solar system are discussed. It is shown that a collective process, forming the basis of the gravitational instability hypothesis, solves with surprising simplicity the two main problems of the dynamical characteristics of the system, which are associated with its observed spacing and orbital momentum distribution. The analysis is found to imply the existence of a new planet (or another Kuiper-type belt)…
We present a statistical study of the detectability of lightcurves of Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs). Some Kuiper Belt objects display lightcurves that appear "flat", i.e., there are no significant brightness variations within the photometric uncertainties. Under the assumption that KBO lightcurves are mainly due to shape, the lack of brightness variations may be due to (1) the objects have very nearly spherical shapes, or (2) their rotation axes coincide with the line of sight. We investigate the relative importance of these two effects and relate it to the observed fraction of "flat" lightcurves…
We describe analytical and numerical collisional evolution calculations for the size distribution of icy bodies in the Kuiper Belt. For a wide range of bulk properties, initial masses, and orbital parameters, our results yield power-law cumulative size distributions, N_C propto r^{-q}, with q_L = 3.5 for large bodies with radii of 10-100 km, and q_s = 2.5-3 for small bodies with radii lesss than 0.1-1 km. The transition between the two power laws occurs at a break radius of 1-30 km. The break radius is more sensitive to the initial mass in the Kuiper Belt and the amount of stirring by Neptune …
We use optical data on 10 Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) to investigate their rotational properties. Of the 10, three (30%) exhibit light variations with amplitude delta_m >= 0.15 mag, and 1 out of 10 (10%) has delta_m >= 0.40 mag, which is in good agreement with previous surveys. These data, in combination with the existing database, are used to discuss the rotational periods, shapes, and densities of Kuiper Belt objects. We find that, in the sampled size range, Kuiper Belt objects have a higher fraction of low amplitude lightcurves and rotate slower than main belt asteroids. The data also show t…
In this work we study the gravitational influence of the material extending from Uranus orbit to the Kuiper belt and beyond on objects moving within these regions. We conclude that a density distribution given by $ρ(r)=\frac{1}{r}$ (for $r\geq 20 UA$) generates a constant acceleration towards the Sun on those objects, which, with the proper amount of mass, accounts for the blue shift detected on the Pioneers space crafts. We also discuss the effect of this gravitational pull on Neptune, and comment on the possible origin of such a matter distribution.
We report the detection of water ice in the Centaur 2060 Chiron, based on near-infrared spectra (1.0 - 2.5 micron) taken with the 3.8-meter United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) and the 10-meter Keck Telescope. The appearance of this ice is correlated with the recent decline in Chiron's cometary activity: the decrease in the coma cross-section allows previously hidden solid-state surface features to be seen. We predict that water ice is ubiquitous among Centaurs and Kuiper Belt objects, but its surface coverage varies from object to object, and thus determines its detectability and the occ…
We have performed a survey of the Kuiper belt covering ~ 1/3 a square degree of the sky using Suprime-cam on the Subaru telescope, to a limiting magnitude of m(R)~ 26.8 (50% threshold) and have found 36 new KBOs. We have confirmed that the luminosity function of the Kuiper belt must break as previously observed (Bernstein et al. 2004; Fuentes & Holman 2008). From the luminosity function, we have inferred the underlying size distribution and find that it is consistent with a large object power-law slope q1~4.8 that breaks to a slope q2~1.9 at object diameter Db~60 km assuming 6% albedos. We hav…
The Oort Cloud, the Kuiper Belt and the Scattered Disk are dynamically distinct populations of small bodies evolving in the outer regions of the Solar System. Whereas their collisional activity is now quiet, gravitational interactions with giant planets may have shaped these populations both dynamically and collisionally during their formation. Using a hybrid approach (Charnoz & Morbidelli 2003), the present paper tries to couple the primordial collisional and dynamical evolution of these three populations in a self-consistent way. A critical parameter is the primordial size-distribution. We s…
We have performed an ecliptic imaging survey of the Kuiper belt with our deepest and widest field achieving a limiting flux of m(g') = 26.4, with a sky coverage of 3.0 square-degrees. This is the largest coverage of any other Kuiper belt survey to this depth. We detect 72 objects, two of which have been previously observed. We have improved the Bayesian maximum likelihood fitting technique presented in Gladman et al. (1998) to account for calibration and sky density variations and have used this to determine the luminosity function of the Kuiper belt. Combining our detections with previous sur…
We present new measurements of the optical colors of Kuiper Belt Objects, principally from the Keck 10-m telescope. The measurements confirm the existence of a wide spread in the B-V, V-R and R-I color indices (Luu and Jewitt 1996). Relative to the sun, the Kuiper Belt Objects exhibit reflected colors from nearly neutral to very red. The optical and optical-infrared (V-J) color indices are mutually correlated, showing the presence of a single reddening agent from 0.45 micron to 1.2 micron. On the other hand, we find no evidence for linear correlations between the color and absolute magnitude (…
Knowledge of the Kuiper Belt is currently limited to those objects that can be detected directly. Objects with diameters less than $\sim$10km reflect too little light to be detected. These smaller bodies could contain most of the mass in the Kuiper Belt while the abundance of these bodies may constrain the distribution of mass. The overall size distribution of bodies within the Kuiper Belt can also be inferred from the relative abundances of sub-km and larger bodies. Stellar occultations are already used to study dark objects in the Solar System, such as asteroids or planetary rings. Occultati…
The dust produced in the Kuiper Belt (KB) spreads throughout the Solar System forming a dust disk. We numerically model the orbital evolution of KB dust and estimate its equilibrium spatial distribution and its brightness and spectral energy distributions (SED), assuming greybody absorption and emission by the dust grains. We show that the planets modify the KB disk SED, so potentially we can infer the presence of planets in spatially unresolved debris disks by studying the shape of their SEDs. We point out that there are inherent uncertainties in the prediction of structure in the dust disk, …
The size distribution is determined directly from the current known Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). We found that there is a peak for the size distribution around 230 km in diameter. For the objects larger than 230 km, the KBOs populate as $N(s) \propto s^{-4}$ as we see in Jewitt et al. (1998). For the objects smaller than 230 km, we found $N(s) \propto s^{3}$. This result from the current observational data is new and very different from the conventional concept of the KBO size distribution. Though the true size distribution might change from what we have after more KBOs be discovered, we argue …
The Discovery of Halley-sized Kuiper Belt Objects Using HST
我们报告的统计检测（在>99%的置信水平）人口的28等物体表现出适当的运动~1角秒每小时在正交深HST/WFPC 2图像。漂移的方向意味着绝大多数的天体都集中在黄道面附近的椭圆轨道上。我们将其解释为探测到位于海王星轨道附近或之外的柯伊伯带中的物体，其大小与彗星1 P/哈雷相当（半径约为10公里，半径为4%）。我们的观测结果表明，在<28.6. This must be viewed as a lower limit until our search of parameter space is complete. Our observations imply that there are >柯伊伯带中，倾角小于12度，距离太阳约40天文单位的范围内，存在着约2.5x10^4个度^-2的天体，其中V为2x10^8个。
We investigate the constraints that Olbers Paradox, applied to the Zodiacal Background as measured from space, sets on outer solar system objects. If extended to very faint limits, R = 40--50 mag, the steep optical luminosity function (LF) of Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) at R less than 26 mag implies an infinitely bright night sky. Small KBOs with radii of 1 mm to 1 km must have a size distribution n(r) proportional to r^{-a}, with a = 3.5 or smaller to satisfy the known limits on the sky-surface brightness at optical and far-infrared wavelengths. Improved limits on the measured KBO surface brig…
The serendipitous detection of stellar occultations by Outer Solar System objects is a powerful method for ascertaining the small end ($r \lesssim 15$ km) of the size distribution of Kuiper Belt Objects and may potentially allow the exploration of objects as far out as the Oort Cloud. The design and implementation of an occultation survey is aided by a detailed understanding of how diffraction and observational parameters affect the detection of occultation events. In this study, stellar occultations are simulated, accounting for diffraction effects, finite source sizes, finite bandwidths, ste…
We numerically investigate the possibility that a close stellar encounter could account for the high inclinations of the Kuiper belt, as originally proposed by Ida, Larwood and Burkert, however we consider encounters with pericenters within those explored by previous works. A star of mass 0.2 Msol entering the solar system on a nearly parabolic, low inclination, retrograde orbit with perihelion of 50 AU can scatter ~30% of the Kuiper belt into moderate inclination (i>10 degrees) and eccentricity orbits, while leaving the rest of the belt at low eccentricities and inclinations. This scenario pr…
When a main sequence star evolves into a red giant and its Kuiper Belt Object's (KBO's) reach a temperature of about 170 K, the dust released during the rapid ice-sublimation of these cometary bodies may lead to a detectable infrared excess at 25 microns, depending upon the mass of the KBO's. Analysis of IRAS data for 66 first ascent red giants with 200 L(Sun) < L < 300 L(Sun) within 150 pc of the Sun provides an upper limit to the mass in KBO's at 45 AU orbital radius that is usually less than about 0.1 M(Earth). With improved infrared data, we may detect systems of KBO's around first ascent …
We numerically integrated the orbits of 1458 particles in the region of the classical Kuiper Belt (41 AU < a < 47 AU) to explore the role of dynamical instabilities in sculpting the inclination distribution of the classical Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). We find that the selective removal of low-inclination objects by overlapping secular resonances (nu_17 and nu_18) acts to raise the mean inclination of the surviving population of particles over 4 billion years of interactions with Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, though these long-term dynamical effects do not themselves appear to explain th…
It has been an interesting question that why there are one-third of Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) trapped into the 3:2 resonance but, in contrast, only several KBOs are claimed to be associated with the 2:1 resonance. In a model proposed by Zhou et al. (2002), the stochastic outward migration of the Neptune could reduce the number of particles in the 2:1 resonance and thus the objects in the 3:2 resonance become more distinct. As a complementary study, we investigate the effect of proto-stellar discs on the resonance capture. Our results show that the gaseous drag of a proto-stellar disc can trap…
We carried out extensive numerical orbit integrations to probe the long-term chaotic dynamics of the two strongest mean motion resonances of Neptune in the Kuiper belt, the 3:2 (Plutinos) and 2:1 (Twotinos). Our primary results include a computation of the relative volumes of phase space characterized by large- and small-resonance libration amplitudes, and maps of resonance stability measured by mean chaotic diffusion rate. We find that Neptune's 2:1 resonance has weaker overall long-term stability than the 3:2 -- only ~15% of Twotinos are projected to survive for 4 Gyr, compared to ~27% of Pl…
We present a survey for bright Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and Centaurs, conducted at the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) 0.9 m telescope with the KPNO 8k Mosaic CCD. The survey imaged 164 sq deg near opposition to a limiting red magnitude of 21.1. Three bright KBOs and one Centaur were found, the brightest KBO having red magnitude 19.7, about 700 km in diameter assuming a dark Centaur-like 4% albedo. We estimate the power-law differential size distribution of the Classical KBOs to have index q = 4.2 (+0.4)(-0.3), with the total number of Classical KBOs with diameters larger than 100 km e…
Nbody simulations are used to examine the consequences of Neptune's outward migration into the Kuiper Belt, with the simulated endstates being compared rigorously and quantitatively to the observations. These simulations confirm the findings of Chiang et al. (2003), who showed that Neptune's migration into a previously stirred-up Kuiper Belt can account for the Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) known to librate at Neptune's 5:2 resonance. We also find that capture is possible at many other weak, high-order mean motion resonances, such as the 11:6, 13:7, 13:6, 9:4, 7:3, 12:5, 8:3, 3:1, 7:2, and the 4:…
Recent observations (Burnes et al 2002,Veillet et al 2002, Margot et al 2002a) 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 binaries in four respects (Veillet et al 2002): their frequency is an order of magnitude larger, the mass ratio of their components is closer to unity, and their orbits are wider and highly eccentric. Two explanations have been proposed for their formation, one assuming large numbers of massive bodies (Weidenschilling 2002), and one assumin…
Chiang et al. 2006, hereafter C06 have recently proposed that the observed structure of the Kuiper belt could be the result of a dynamical instability of a system of ~5 primordial ice giant planets in the outer Solar System. According to this scenario, before the instability occurred, these giants were growing in a highly collisionally damped environment according to the arguments in Goldreich et al. (2004a,b, hereafter G04). Here we test this hypothesis with a series of numerical simulations using a new code designed to incorporate the dynamical effects of collisions. We find that we cannot r…
We compute the temperature and IR signal of particles of radius $a$ and albedo $α$ at heliocentric distance $R$, taking into account the emissivity effect, and give an interpolating formula for the result. We compare with analyses of COBE DIRBE data by others (including recent detection of the cosmic IR background) for various values of heliocentric distance, $R$, particle radius, $a$, and particle albedo, $α$. We then apply these results to a recently-developed picture of the Kuiper belt as a two-sector disk with a nearby, low-density sector (40<R<50-90 AU) and a more distant sector with a hi…
Recent observations have revealed an unexpectedly high binary fraction among the Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) that populate the Kuiper-belt. The discovered binaries have four characteristics they comprise a few percent of the TNOs, the mass ratio of their components is close to unity, their internal orbits are highly eccentric, and the orbits are more than 100 times wider than the primary's radius. In contrast, theories of binary asteroid formation tend to produce close, circular binaries. Therefore, a new approach is required to explain the unique characteristics of the TNO binaries. Two mo…
We present the discovery and initial physical and dynamical characterization of the object 2003 UB313. The object is sufficiently bright that for all reasonable values of the albedo it is certain to be larger than Pluto. Pre-discovery observations back to 1989 are used to obtain an orbit with extremely small errors. The object is currently at aphelion in what appears to be a typical orbit for a scattered Kuiper belt object except that it is inclined by about 44 degrees from the ecliptic. The presence of such a large object at this extreme inclination suggests that high inclination Kuiper belt …
The occultation of background stars by foreground Solar system objects, such as planets and asteroids, has been widely used as an observational probe to study physical properties associated with the foreground sample. Similarly, the gravitational microlensing of background stellar sources by foreground mass concentrations has also been widely used to understand the foreground mass distribution. Though distinct, these two possibilities present two extreme cases during a transit; At the edge of the Solar system and beyond, the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud populations may present interesting foregr…
(Abridged) I report new light curves and determine the rotations and phase functions of several large Kuiper Belt objects, including the dwarf planet Eris (2003 UB313). (120348) 2004 TY364 shows a light curve which if double-peaked has a period of 11.70+-0.01 hours and peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.22+-0.02 magnitudes. (84922) 2003 VS2 has a well defined double-peaked light curve of 7.41+-0.02 hours with a 0.21+-0.02 magnitude range. (126154) 2001 YH140 shows variability of 0.21+-0.04 magnitudes with a possible 13.25+-0.2 hour single-peaked period. The seven new KBOs in the sample which show no …
We present high signal precision optical reflectance spectra of the large Kuiper belt objects 2005 FY9 and 2003 EL61. The spectrum of 2005 FY9 exhibits strong CH4-ice bands. A comparison between the spectrum and a Hapke model indicates the CH4 bands are shifted 3.25 +/- 2.25A relative to pure CH4-ice, suggesting the presence of another ice component on the surface of 2005 FY9, possibly N2-ice, CO-ice, or Ar. The spectrum of 2003 EL61 is remarkably featureless. There is a hint of an O2-ice band at 5773A; however, this feature needs to be confirmed by future spectroscopic observations of 2003 EL…
