Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996dps....28.0708d&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #28, #07.08; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 28, p.1082
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
1
Scientific paper
The outer region of the solar system is presently characterized by a very steep falloff in mass beyond the orbit of Neptune; the total mass residing in the Pluto/Charon system and the Edgeworth-Kuiper (E-K) belt is estimated to be about 0.1 M_oplus . However, the present population is inadequate to increase substantially the surface density beyond Neptune. If the low mass density is of primordial origin, it is difficult to explain how E-K objects formed, assuming that accretion was the mechanism; Stern (1996, 1994 Proc. ASP Conference) estimates that it would take longer than the age of the solar system to accrete bodies several hundred km in diameter given. Thus, it is postulated that the mass density decreased smoothly beyond Neptune and there was substantially more mass in the outer solar system when the bodies formed and the excess mass removed by some process; Neptune is frequently suggested as a major perturbing influence in the E-K belt. The difficulty of explaining how E-K objects formed is strikingly similar to the problem of explaining how the asteroids formed. We have studied the simultaneous formation of Neptune and bodies in the E-K belt using the multizone accretion code of Weidenschilling et al. (1996, submitted to Icarus). We assume a primordial surface density of solids to vary as r(-2) , and model the growth in the region from 30-50 AU, starting from bodies 8 km in size, consistent with the size of planetesimals expected in this region of the solar system (Weidenschilling 1996, in preparation). After 1.8 x 10(8) years (as far as the simulation has progressed by the abstract deadline) in Neptune's region, bodies as large as 500 km have formed; while at 50 AU, the largest ones are about 125 km. We will present final results from this simulation and its implications for the formation of bodies in the outer solar system.
Davis Donald R.
Farinella Paolo
Marzari Francesco
Weidenschilling Stuart J.
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