Discovery of a Collisional Family in the Kuiper Belt

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Scientific paper

We have discovered a family of collisional fragments in Kuiper belt that appear to be the remnants of 2003 EL61's ice mantle. 2003 EL61 likely experienced a catastrophic collision that stripped most of its ice mantle, leaving a rapidly rotating, dense parent body and a multiple satellite system. We have found three Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) with spectral and orbital properties that suggest they are fragments ejected from the giant impact. Our spectroscopic studies find that the fragments have similar surface composition to 2003 EL61 and are distinct from other KBOs. All show strong water ice absorption in the near-infrared and solar-like BVRI colors. The spectral characteristics suggest that the fragments are enriched in water ice and have lost their volatile organics. The proper orbital elements of the three fragments are nearly identical to each other and they are similar to 2003 EL61's. Modeling shows that fragment ejection velocities just above the escape velocity of 2003 EL61 can reproduce the observed orbital elements and suggests that many more fragments may exist in hot and scattered populations of the Kuiper belt. Our results also indicate that the Kuiper belt may have been denser at the end of Neptune's migration than previously thought.

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