Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jun 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996a%26a...310..999s&link_type=abstract
Astronomy and Astrophysics, v.310, p.999-1010
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
80
Minor Planets, Asteroids, Interplanetary Medium, Infrared: Solar System
Scientific paper
We explore the rate of collisionally-produced mass injection in the present-day Kuiper Disk as a function of the total mass and population size structure of the disk. Our objective is to estimate the detectability of IR emission from debris created by collisions. We find that eccentricities in the Kuiper Disk are high enough to promote erosion on virtually all objects up to ~30km, independent of their impact strength. Larger objects, such as the 50-170km radius "QB_1_" population, will suffer net erosion if their orbital eccentricity is greater than =~0.05(=~0.1) if they are structurally weak (strong). Our model predicts a net collisional erosion rate from all objects out to 50AU ranging from 3x10^16^ to 10^19^g/yr, depending on the mass, population structure, and mechanical properties of the objects in the Disk. We find two kinds of collisional signatures that this debris should generate. First, there should be a relatively smooth, quasi-steady-state, longitudinally isotropic, far IR (i.e, ~60 μm peak) emission near the ecliptic in the solar system's invariable plane ecliptic, caused by debris created by the ensemble of ancient collisions. The predicted optical depth of this emission could be as low as 7x10^-8^, but is most likely between 3x10^-7^ and 5x10^-6^. We find that this signature was most likely below IRAS detection limits, but that it should be detectable by both ISO and SIRTF. Second, very recent impacts in the disk should produce short-lived, discrete clouds with significantly enhanced, localized IR emission signatures superimposed on the smooth, invariable plane emission. These discrete clouds should have angular diameters up to 0.2deg, and annual parallaxes up to 2.6degrees. Individual expanding clouds (or trails) should show significant temporal evolution over timescales of a few years. As few as zero or as many as several 10^2^ such clouds may be detectable in a complete ecliptic survey at ISO's sensitivity, depending on the population structure of the Kuiper Disk.
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