A classificaiton system for KBO spectra and what we learn

Details A classificaiton system for KBO spectra and what we learn A classificaiton system for KBO spectra and what we learn

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufm.p13c0181b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #P13C-0181

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6224 Kuiper Belt Objects

Scientific paper

While once the collection of each individual infared spectrum of a new Kuiper belt object was a cause for excitement and wonder, the field has now matured to a stage where we have enough infrared and visible spectra of objects in the Kuiper belt to begin to try to make sense of the diversity of objects present. The vast majority of Kuiper belt objects are either featureless in the infrared or contain only signatures of water ice absorption to the level of the noise in the data. In addition, the vast majority contain featureless nearly linear slopes in the visible part of the spectrum. As such, most Kuiper belt spectra can be fully descibed with two parameters: a visible color gradient and a fractional absorption of water ice. These parameters and their associated error bars can be calculated for any spectrum with visible colors or photometry and with infrared spectroscopy. Unlike for the asteroid belt, where clear spectral patterns emerge and are spatially correlated, for the asteroid belt almost no patterns emerge. Colors and water ice absorption appear almost completely unrelated to dynamical classes and other parameters. In a small number of cases, true correlations are seen, however, and these each give unique insights into the Kuiper belt. A class of water ice rich neutrally colored objects all with similar dynamical properties appears to be the remnants of the collision that spun up 2003 EL61. The largest objects do not fit the categorization and show the effects of atmospheric retention of volatile gasses.

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