A Distant Massive Planet Beyond Pluto and Origin of Kuiper Belt Architecture

Details A Distant Massive Planet Beyond Pluto and Origin of Kuiper Belt Architecture A Distant Massive Planet Beyond Pluto and Origin of Kuiper Belt Architecture

Oct 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.6408l&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #64.08; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.1042

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) orbiting in the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt carry precious information about the origin and evolution of the solar system. Based on extensive simulations, we propose that an outer planet with tenths of Earth masses orbiting beyond Pluto can explain the Kuiper belt structure. Near the end of planet formation, a massive body (the outer planet) was likely scattered by one of the giant planets, then it stirred the primordial planetesimal disk over tens of Myr to the levels observed at 40-50AU and truncated it at 48AU before planet migration. Later, the outer planet was captured by a distant resonance with Neptune of the type r:1 or r:2 (e.g., 6:1, 7:1, ...). At the end, the outer planet acquired an inclined and distant orbit (>100 AU; 30-50°), guaranteeing the stability of the Kuiper belt over 4Gyr. Our model explains the following: 1) Depletion of the inner Kuiper belt; 2) The entire currently known resonant structure in the Kuiper belt, including Neptune Trojans and resonant TNOs in distant resonances (>50AU) 3) Formation of scattered and detached TNOs, including analogs of (136199) Eris, 2004 XR190, (148209) 2000 CR105, and (90377) Sedna; 4) Classical TNOs and their dual nature of physically distinct cold and hot populations; 5) Orbital excitation of classical TNOs; 6) The Kuiper belt outer edge at 48AU; 7) Loss of 99% of the initial total mass of the Kuiper belt through dynamical depletion and enhanced collisional grinding; 8) Neptune's current orbit at 30.1 AU. In summary, our scenario consistently reproduces all main aspects of Kuiper belt architecture with unprecedented detail. The best constraints obtained from the model for the outer planet are: aP=100-170AU (currently near or inside an r:1 or r:2 resonance), qP>80AU, iP=30-50°, and apparent magnitude mP 15-17mag at perihelion (assuming an albedo of 0.1-0.3 and qP=80-90AU).

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