Other
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.3607r&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #36.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.462
Other
Scientific paper
Kuiper Belt object (136108) 2003 EL61 is the only known dwarf planet with two massive moons and the largest member of the 2003 EL61 family (Brown et al. 2007). The orbit of the outer, brighter moon, "S1" has been known for over 3 years (Brown et al. 2005) to be slightly non-circular (eccentricity of about 0.05) with a 49-day period. Although the inner, fainter moon "S2" was discovered not long after S1 (Brown et al. 2006), its orbit has been difficult to determine because the instantaneous Keplerian orbit of S2 changes significantly after only a few months due to the perturbations from S1 (Ragozzine & Brown, DPS 2006) and the gravitational quadrupole (J2) of EL61, known from photometry to be strongly elongated (Rabinowitz et al. 2006, Lacerda et al. 2008). We have recently acquired HST observations that, in combination with other observations, have allowed for the determination of the orbital solution of the fully-interacting three-body system. Unlike most close-in satellites, S2 is on an edge-on 18-day orbit with an eccentricity over 0.2 and a mutual inclination to S1 of over 10 degrees. From the strongly detected interactions, we are also able to determine each of the masses independently (e.g. Tholen & Buie 2008), though the mass of S1 and the J2 of EL61 are partially degenerate. We will discuss the feasibility of disentangling these and other parameters. Finally, we will discuss the implications of the present-day orbits on the formation and evolution of this extremely interesting system.
Brown Michael E.
Ragozzine Darin
Schaller Emily L.
Trujillo Chad A.
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