Characterization of the Family of Kuiper Belt Object 2003 EL61

Details Characterization of the Family of Kuiper Belt Object 2003 EL61 Characterization of the Family of Kuiper Belt Object 2003 EL61

Oct 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.6407r&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #64.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.546

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

1

Scientific paper

Kuiper belt object (KBO) 2003 EL61 has been identified as the progenitor of a collisional family of high-inclination KBOs with strong water ice spectra. Furthering our understanding of this family will allow for many new insights into the formation and evolution of the outer solar system. We have identified a quantitative way of identifying the dynamical closeness of KBOs to the EL61 family and find that the known family members are tightly clustered dynamically with no obvious interlopers. Several candidate family members are also identified including three KBOs that are almost certainly family members; future observations will seek to confirm whether these objects share the strong water ice absorptions unique to the EL61 family. Through long-timescale resonance diffusion (in the 12:7 Neptune mean motion resonance), EL61 has significantly changed its orbital eccentricity. From a suite of orbital integrations, we have determined that it takes 2003 EL61 at least 1 GYr (90% confidence) to diffuse to its current eccentricity. Thus the family is ancient and probably primordial. This suggests a non-recent interpretation of the seemingly fresh crystalline water ice spectra of family members.

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