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Register a new userThe Complex Rotational Light Curve of (385446) Manwe-Thorondor, a Multi-Component Eclipsing System in the Kuiper Belt
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Kuiper Belt Object (385446) Manwe-Thorondor is a multi-object system with mutual events predicted to occur from 2014 to 2019. To detect the events, we observed the system at 4 epochs (UT 2016 Aug 25 and 26, 2017 Jul 22 and 25, 2017 Nov 9, and 2018 Oct 6) in g, r, and VR bands using the 4-m SOAR and the 8.1-m Gemini South telescopes at Cerro Pachon, Chile and Lowell Observatory s 4.3-m Discovery Channel Telescope at Happy Jack, Arizona. These dates overlap the uncertainty range (+/- 0.5 d) for four inferior events (Thorondor eclipsing Manwe). We clearly observe variability for the unresolved system with a double-peaked period 11.88190 +/- 0.00005 h and ~0.5 mag amplitude together with much longer-term variability. Using a multi-component model, we simultaneously fit our observations and earlier photometry measured separately for Manwe and Thorondor with the Hubble Space Telescope. Our fit suggests Manwe is bi-lobed, close to the barbell shape expected for a strengthless body with density ~0.8 g/cm3 in hydrostatic equilibrium. For Manwe, we thereby derive maximum width to length ratio ~0.30, surface area equivalent to a sphere of diameter 190 km, geometric albedo 0.06, mass 1.4x1018 kg, and spin axis oriented ~75 deg from Earth s line of sight. Changes in Thorondor s brightness by ~0.6 mag with ~300-d period may account for the system s long-term variability. Mutual events with unexpectedly shallow depth and short duration may account for residuals to the fit. The system is complex, providing a challenging puzzle for future modeling efforts.
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A new Hubble Space Telescope observation of the 7:4 resonant transneptunian binary system (385446) Manwe has shown that, of two previously reported solutions for the orbit of its satellite Thorondor, the prograde one is correct. The orbit has a period of 110.18 $pm$ 0.02 days, semimajor axis of 6670 $pm$ 40 km, and an eccentricity of 0.563 $pm$ 0.007. It will be viewable edge-on from the inner solar system during 2015-2017, presenting opportunities to observe mutual occultation and eclipse events. However, the number of observable events will be small, owing to the long orbital period and expected small sizes of the bodies relative to their separation. This paper presents predictions for events observable from Earth-based telescopes and discusses the associated uncertainties and challenges.
Here we report WFPC2 observations of the Quaoar-Weywot Kuiper belt binary. From these observations we find that Weywot is on an elliptical orbit with eccentricity of 0.14 {pm} 0.04, period of 12.438 {pm} 0.005 days, and a semi-major axis of 1.45 {pm} 0.08 {times} 104 km. The orbit reveals a surpsingly high Quaoar-Weywot system mass of 1.6{pm}0.3{times}10^21 kg. Using the surface properties of the Uranian and Neptunian satellites as a proxy for Quaoars surface, we reanalyze the size estimate from Brown and Trujillo (2004). We find, from a mean of available published size estimates, a diameter for Quaoar of 890 {pm} 70 km. We find Quaoars density to be rho = 4.2 {pm} 1.3 g cm^-3, possibly the highest density in the Kuiper belt.
Persephone is a NASA concept mission study that addresses key questions raised by New Horizons encounters with Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs), with arguably the most important being Does Pluto have a subsurface ocean?. More broadly, Persephone would answer four significant science questions: (1) What are the internal structures of Pluto and Charon? (2) How have the surfaces and atmospheres in the Pluto system evolved? (3) How has the KBO population evolved? (4) What are the particles and magnetic field environments of the Kuiper Belt? To answer these questions, Persephone has a comprehensive payload, and would both orbit within the Pluto system and encounter other KBOs. The nominal mission is 30.7 years long, with launch in 2031 on a Space Launch System (SLS) Block 2 rocket with a Centaur kick stage, followed by a 27.6 year cruise powered by existing radioisotope electric propulsion (REP) and a Jupiter gravity assist to reach Pluto in 2058. En route to Pluto, Persephone would have one 50- to 100-km-class KBO encounter before starting a 3.1 Earth-year orbital campaign of the Pluto system. The mission also includes the potential for an 8-year extended mission, which would enable the exploration of another KBO in the 100- to 150-km-size class. The mission payload includes 11 instruments: Panchromatic and Color High-Resolution Imager; Low-Light Camera; Ultra-Violet Spectrometer; Near-Infrared (IR) Spectrometer; Thermal IR Camera; Radio Frequency Spectrometer; Mass Spectrometer; Altimeter; Sounding Radar; Magnetometer; and Plasma Spectrometer. The nominal cost of this mission is $3.0B, making it a large strategic science mission.
We investigate what can be learned about a population of distant KBOs by studying the statistical properties of their light curves. Whereas others have successfully inferred the properties of individual, highly variable KBOs, we show that the fraction of KBOs with low amplitudes also provides fundamental information about a population. Each light curve is primarily the result of two factors: shape and orientation. We consider contact binaries and ellipsoidal shapes, with and without flattening. After developing the mathematical framework, we apply it to the existing body of KBO light curve data. Principal conclusions are as follows. (1) When using absolute magnitude H as a proxy for size, it is more accurate to use the maximum of the light curve rather than the mean. (2) Previous investigators have noted that smaller KBOs have higher-amplitude light curves, and have interpreted this as evidence that they are systematically more irregular in shape than larger KBOs; we show that a population of flattened bodies with uniform proportions could also explain this result. (3) Our analysis indicates that prior assessments of the fraction of contact binaries in the Kuiper Belt may be artificially low. (4) The pole orientations of some KBOs can be inferred from observed changes in their light curves; however, these KBOs constitute a biased sample, whose pole orientations are not representative of the population overall. (5) Although surface topography, albedo patterns, limb darkening, and other surface properties can affect individual light curves, they do not have a strong influence on the statistics overall. (6) Photometry from the OSSOS survey is incompatible with previous results and its statistical properties defy easy interpretation. We also discuss the promise of this approach for the analysis of future, much larger data sets such as the one anticipated from the Rubin Observatory.
Here, we present results on the intrinsic collision probabilities, $ P_I$, and range of collision speeds, $V_I$, as a function of the heliocentric distance, $r$, in the trans-Neptunian region. The collision speed is one of the parameters, that serves as a proxy to a collisional outcome e.g., complete disruption and scattering of fragments, or formation of crater, where both processes are directly related to the impact energy. We utilize an improved and de-biased model of the trans-Neptunian object (TNO) region from the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS). It provides a well-defined orbital distribution model of TNOs, based on multiple opposition observations of more than 1000 bodies. In this work we compute collisional probabilities for the OSSOS models of the main classical, resonant, detached+outer and scattering TNO populations. The intrinsic collision probabilities and collision speeds are computed using the {O}piks approach, as revised and modified by Wetherill for non-circular and inclined orbits. The calculations are carried out for each of the dynamical TNO groups, allowing for inter-population collisions as well as collisions within each TNO population, resulting in 28 combinations in total. Our results indicate that collisions in the trans-Neptunian region are possible over a wide range in ($r, V_I$) phase space. Although collisions are calculated to happen within $rsim 20 - 200$~AU and $V_I sim 0.1$~km/s to as high as $V_Isim9$~km/s, most of the collisions are likely to happen at low relative velocities $V_I<1$~km/s and are dominated by the main classical belt.
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