[FPSPACE] Transneptunian Object 2003 UB313 as a Source of Comets

[LARRY KLAES]

Transneptunian Object 2003 UB313 as a Source of Comets

A.S. Guliev1

1 Shemakha Astrophysical Observatory, National Academy of Sciences of 
Azerbaijan, Shemakha, 373243, Azerbaijan

The possibility of interrelation between long-period comets and 2003 UB313, 
a recently discovered large Kuiper Belt body, is investigated. For this 
purpose, 78 objects crossing the plane of motion of this body at distances 
from 37.8 to 97.6 AU have been selected from 860 long-period comets. The 
overpopulation of comets with this characteristic is also considered. The 
plane of motion of 2003 UB313 is compared with the orbital planes of other 
objects in number of comet crossings in the specified distance interval or 
in some parts of it. A statistically significant overpopulation of elliptic 
and intermediate comets with the corresponding orbital nodes has been 
established. Recently discovered and absolutely faint comets show the best 
effect in this sense. The same is also true for comets with osculating 
eccentricities e < 1. A similar result is also obtained for comets with 
``original'' a1 > 0.010000. It is hypothesized that the 2003 UB313 family is 
present among the 78 comets. Four of them have aphelion distances from 37.8 
to 97.6 AU. An ellipticity is traceable in the distribution of some of the 
78 distant nodes. This may be considered as a further argument for the 
suggested hypothesis. Generally, the body 2003 UB313 may be assumed to play 
a prominent role in injecting observable comets from the transneptunian 
region.

Published in: Solar System Research, 41, 46 (2007 February)

[Astronomicheskii Vestnik, 41, 51]

http://www.boulder.swri.edu/ekonews/issues/past/n051/html/index.html