Other
Scientific paper
May 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007sptz.prop40016r&link_type=abstract
Spitzer Proposal ID #40016
Other
Scientific paper
Spitzer measurements of the thermal emission of Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) have shown that a number of them have surprisingly high albedos, and that in general the range of albedoes is very large, from a few percent to nearly 100%!. These results are important to combine with spectra of the reflected light and help determine the surface properties. Models for the collisional and chemical evolution, and the dust production in the Kuiper Belt, depend on this information. For two binary KBOs, the measurements also indicate shockingly low densities, of order 1 g/cm3. These densities push to the limit interior models for these objects, since the KBOs are too large for 'porosity' to account for the low densities: at least in their core regions, gravity should have crushed the material into a solid mass. Thus, the proportion of high density material in them must be kept relatively small to be compatible with the data. The two results indicate the potential for Spitzer thermal measurements to have a major impact on our understanding of the Kuiper Belt. We propose to consolidate these surprising findings by improving the signal to noise on three KBOs previously measured in the MIPS GTO program, but where the current data are insufficient to determine the properties of the objects well. Two of the targets (1997 CS 29 and Typhon) are binaries, and hence can test whether the small densities are fairly typical. Expanding the sample with well-determined densities from two to four can have a lot of leverage on assuring us that the low densities are not for peculiar, exceptional objects. The other one (1996 TL 66) is a case where a high-confidence albedo can be obtained with a modest additional investment of time. It is one of a small number of 'inner classical' KBOs that can be observed well with Spitzer. There are indications of systematic trends in albedo with orbital radius for KBOs and Centaurs, and increasing the size of samples in under-represented classes is important to test this result.
Rieke George
Stansberry John
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