Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.3403n&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #34.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.546
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Nearly 40 binary and multiple systems are now known in the Kuiper Belt. Most of these consist of similar-sized components; for some it is problematic to define a primary and a secondary. Systems with faint companions do exist. In the Pluto system, the most extreme example known, the two newly identified satellites are approximately 9 magnitudes fainter than Pluto.
Observational bias favors the detection of bright secondaries, especially in low or modest S/N observations, a common occurrence in the observation of transneptunian objects. Because of this bias, it has not been clear whether the apparent preference for similar-sized components in binaries is real or an observational artifact.
In the last year we have made very deep observations of 61 Centaurs and TNOs using the Hubble Space Telescope High Resolution Camera. These observations have 3-sigma detection limits of visual magnitude 27.5 or fainter. This is the first large data set capable of assessing the relative frequency of symmetric (similar brightness) and asymmetric (large brightness differences) binaries. Our data show a clear and significant preference for companions that have a 1 magnitude or smaller difference compared to the primary. This result confirms the qualitative prediction of the chaos-assisted model for binary formation (Astakhov et al. 2005, MRAS 360, 401) and supports the contention that most of the bound systems in the Kuiper Belt formed via mutual capture. Asymmetric systems may, in contrast, be the result of collisional formation as is postulated for the Pluto system (Stern et al. 2006, Nature, 439, 946).
Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope program #10514. Support for program #10514 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.
Grundy Will M.
Levison Harold F.
Noll Keith S.
Stephens Denise C.
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