[FPSPACE] Binaries in the Kuiper Belt

[LARRY KLAES]

Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0703134

From: Keith Noll [view email]

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 00:13:25 GMT   (93kb)

Binaries in the Kuiper Belt

Authors: Keith S. Noll, William M. Grundy, Eugene I. Chiang, Jean-Luc 
Margot, Susan D. Kern

Comments: Accepted for inclusion in "The Kuiper Belt", University of Arizona 
Press, Space Science Series

Binaries have played a crucial role many times in the history of modern 
astronomy and are doing so again in the rapidly evolving exploration of the 
Kuiper Belt. The large fraction of transneptunian objects that are binary or 
multiple, 48 such systems are now known, has been an unanticipated windfall. 
Separations and relative magnitudes measured in discovery images give 
important information on the statistical properties of the binary population 
that can be related to competing models of binary formation. Orbits, derived 
for 13 systems, provide a determination of the system mass. Masses can be 
used to derive densities and albedos when an independent size measurement is 
available. Angular momenta and relative sizes of the majority of binaries 
are consistent with formation by dynamical capture. The small satellites of 
the largest transneptunian objects, in contrast, are more likely formed from 
collisions. Correlations of the fraction of binaries with different 
dynamical populations or with other physical variables have the potential to 
constrain models of the origin and evolution of the transneptunian 
population as a whole. Other means of studying binaries have only begun to 
be exploited, including lightcurve, color, and spectral data. Because of the 
several channels for obtaining unique physical information, it is already 
clear that binaries will emerge as one of the most useful tools for 
unraveling the many complexities of transneptunian space.

http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0703134