Other
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21730604f&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #306.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Other
Scientific paper
The surfaces of Kuiper belt objects exhibit an enigmatic physical diversity; with the exception of the largest methane-bearing objects, and those members of the Haumea family, the cause of the broad range of albedos and reflectance spectra exhibited by these objects remains all but unexplained. Trends in physical colour with other properties such as dynamical class suggest that different formation histories resulted in different spectral classes of object. The possibility of using the surface properties of Kuiper belt objects to constrain their genesis is a tantalizing prospect that requires a more indepth understanding of the causes behind the diversity of these objects.
We have executed a large spectro-photometric survey of 120 Kuiper belt objects using WFC3 on HST. This large survey was designed to detect spectral features known to exist on bright objects, but on objects up to 3 magnitudes fainter than can be observed by ground-based observations. This uniform sample of high-quality observations has allowed us to identify two spectral classes of Kuiper belt object. The majority of objects in the cold-classical dynamical subclass, as well as the scattered disk and centaur subclasses have correlated optical and infrared colours that are common to that dynamical subclass alone. We find that a simple spectral absorbance model in which grain-size is the only variable can fully account for both the colours and albedos of the separate spectral classes. This simple yet successful model demonstrates that members of a spectral class exhibit virtually identical surface compositions which are different from the other classes. Other dynamical subclasses such as the resonant objects do not show a common spectral class, but rather are either mixtures of the two different spectral classes, or are objects which are undergoing surface evolution towards becoming members of one of these spectral classes.
Brown Michael E.
Fraser Wesley
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