Astrometry of seven wide trans-Neptunian binaries Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. Parker A.H.
  2. Kavelaars J.J.
  3. Petit J.-M.
  4. Jones L.
  5. Gladman B.
  6. Parker J.
  7. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

The low-inclination component of the Classical Kuiper Belt is host to a population of extremely widely separated binaries. These systems are similar to other trans-Neptunian binaries (TNBs) in that the primary and secondary components of each system are of roughly equal size. We have performed an astrometric monitoring campaign of a sample of seven wide-separation, long-period TNBs and present the first-ever well-characterized mutual orbits for each system. The sample contains the most eccentric (2006 CH_69_, e_m_=0.9) and the most widely separated, weakly bound (2001 QW_322_, a/R_H_~0.22) binary minor planets known, and also contains the system with lowest-measured mass of any TNB (2000 CF_105_, M_sys_~1.85x10^17^kg). Four systems orbit in a prograde sense, and three in a retrograde sense. They have a different mutual inclination distribution compared to all other TNBs, preferring low mutual-inclination orbits. These systems have geometric r-band albedos in the range of 0.09-0.3, consistent with radiometric albedo estimates for larger solitary low-inclination Classical Kuiper Belt objects, and we limit the plausible distribution of albedos in this region of the Kuiper Belt. We find that gravitational collapse binary formation models produce an orbital distribution similar to that currently observed, which along with a confluence of other factors supports formation of the cold Classical Kuiper Belt in situ through relatively rapid gravitational collapse rather than slow hierarchical accretion. We show that these binary systems are sensitive to disruption via collisions, and their existence suggests that the size distribution of TNOs at small sizes remains relatively shallow.

Keywords
  1. asteroids
  2. astrometry
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2011ApJ...743....1P
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/743/1
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/743/1
Document Object Identifer DOI
doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.17430001

Access

Web browser access HTML
http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/743/1
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/743/1
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/743/1
IVOA Table Access TAP
http://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tap
Run SQL-like queries with TAP-enabled clients (e.g., TOPCAT).

History

2013-05-28T07:08:15Z
Resource record created
2013-05-28T07:08:15Z
Created
2013-06-11T16:09:50Z
Updated

Contact

Name
CDS support team
Postal Address
CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
E-Mail
cds-question@unistra.fr