Determining The Orbits Of The Satellites Of KBO 2003 El61

Details Determining The Orbits Of The Satellites Of KBO 2003 El61 Determining The Orbits Of The Satellites Of KBO 2003 El61

Sep 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.3702r&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #37.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.550

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Detailed studies of satellite orbits around Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) are important for understanding the formation and evolution of multiple KBO systems. Large KBO 2003 EL61 has two known satellites: the outer, brighter satellite S/2005 (2003 EL61) 1 with a period of about 49 days and the inner, fainter satellite S/2005 (2003 EL61) 2 with a period near 19 days. Additional observations of the positions of these satellites indicate possible signs of precession and/or three-body effects. While the effects on the orbit of the outer satellite are not yet statistically significant, the inner satellite appears perturbed such that fitting a Keplerian ellipse may be inadequate to model its observed positions. We report on our best understanding of the dynamical situation of this interesting system. Future observations will be necessary to fully determine the orbit of the inner satellite and to further characterize non-Keplerian effects with the goal of dynamically measuring the masses of the satellites and predicting their future positions.

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