Other
Scientific paper
Oct 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dps....42.2307f&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #42, #23.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.992
Other
Scientific paper
The surfaces of Kuiper belt objects exhibit an enigmatic physical diversity; with the exception of the largest methane-bearing objects, and those members of the Haumea family, the cause of the broad range of albedos and reflectance spectra exhibited by these objects remains all but unexplained. Trends in physical colour with other properties such as dynamical class suggest that different formation histories resulted in different spectral classes of object. The possibility of using the surface properties of Kuiper belt objects to constrain their genesis is a tantalizing prospect that requires a more indepth understanding of the causes behind the diversity of these objects.
We have executed a large spectro-photometric survey of 120 Kuiper belt objects using WFC3 on HST. This survey was designed to detect spectral features known to exist on large objects, but on objects up to 3 magnitudes fainter than can be observed by ground-based observations. This uniform sample of high-quality observations has allowed us to identify many new properties and physical characteristics of these confusing objects. A new trend in the optical and near infrared colours of cold classical objects has been revealed which is unique to this population alone. We find that a simple spectral absorbance model in which water-ice content and grain-size are the only free parameters can fully account for not only the observations from this project, but also other physical properties such as albedo and colour previously observed for this population. This simple yet successful model demonstrates that these objects exhibit virtually the same surface composition and have a thermal history common to all members. As this model cannot account for the range of colours and albedos observed in other Kuiper belt populations, we conclude that the cold classical population has a different genesis than that of the rest of the Kuiper belt.
Brown Michael E.
Fraser Wesley
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