The Curiously Warped Mean Plane of the Kuiper Belt

Volk, Kathryn; Malhotra, Renu

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa79ff

Cited by 51 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(95 reference statements)

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“…1I's trajectory makes it very unlikely that it experienced a gravitational encounter with any of the proposed as-yet unknown planets in the outermost part of our Solar System (Trujillo & Sheppard 2014;Brown & Batygin 2016;Volk & Malhotra 2017). Another possibility is that 1I was a member of our Solar System's Oort Cloud and was perturbed inbound onto an unbound orbit by a passing star.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implications for Planetary System Formation from Interstellar Object 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua)

Trilling

Robinson

Roegge

et al. 2017

ApJL

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The recently discovered minor body 1I/2017 U1 ('Oumuamua) is the first known object in our Solar System that is not bound by the Sun's gravity. Its hyperbolic orbit (eccentricity greater than unity) strongly suggests that it originated outside our Solar System; its red color is consistent with substantial space weathering experienced over a long interstellar journey. We carry out an simple calculation of the probability of detecting such an object. We find that the observed detection rate of 1I-like objects can be satisfied if the average mass of ejected material from nearby stars during the process of planetary formation is ∼20 Earth masses, similar to the expected value for our Solar System. The current detection rate of such interstellar interlopers is estimated to be 0.2/year, and the expected number of detections over the past few years is almost exactly one. When the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope begins its wide, fast, deep all-sky survey the detection rate will increase to 1/year. Those expected detections will provide further constraints on nearby planetary system formation through a better estimate of the number and properties of interstellar objects.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implications for Planetary System Formation from Interstellar Object 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua)

Trilling

Robinson

Roegge

et al. 2017

ApJL

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“…As of 2016 October, the MPC listed 484 TNOs with arcs where orbits as fit showed no resonance, with 42 au < a < 48 au and σ a < 5%, from surveys other than those in the ensemble (Volk & Malhotra 2017). The ensemble presented here has 530 such main-belt objects, of which 421 are from OSSOS, and they have σ a < 0.1%; the orbital precision is substantially better, allowing for much more secure dynamical classifications.…”

Section: The Nonresonant Tnosmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The inclination distributions of the dynamical populations of TNOs are well described by overlapping Gaussians of various widths (Brown 2001): the narrowest, that of the cold classical Kuiper Belt, has a mere σ ∼ 2° (Gulbis et al 2010;Petit et al 2011). The mean plane of the Kuiper Belt is certainly not the ecliptic, nor is it precisely the invariable plane, and it is not consistently flat with increasing semimajor axis (Brown 2001;Chiang & Choi 2008;Volk & Malhotra 2017). However, the invariable plane provides a reasonable proxy for the purpose of large-area survey design.…”

Section: Data Acquisition and Calibrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

OSSOS. VII. 800+ Trans-Neptunian Objects—The Complete Data Release

Bannister

Gladman

Kavelaars

et al. 2018

ApJS

Self Cite

135

164

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The Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS), a wide-field imaging program in 2013-2017 with the CanadaFrance-Hawaii Telescope, surveyed 155 deg 2 of sky to depths of m r = 24.1-25.2. We present 838 outer solar system discoveries that are entirely free of ephemeris bias. This increases the inventory of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with accurately known orbits by nearly 50%. Each minor planet has 20-60 Gaia/Pan-STARRS-calibrated astrometric measurements made over 2-5 oppositions, which allows accurate classification of their orbits within the trans-Neptunian dynamical populations. The populations orbiting in mean-motion resonance with Neptune are key to understanding Neptune's early migration. Our 313 resonant TNOs, including 132 plutinos, triple the available characterized sample and include new occupancy of distant resonances out to semimajor axis a ∼ 130 au. OSSOS doubles the known population of the nonresonant Kuiper Belt, providing 436 TNOs in this region, all with exceptionally high-quality orbits of a uncertainty σ a 0.1%; they show that the belt exists from a  37 au, with a lower perihelion bound of 35au. We confirm the presence of a concentrated low-inclination a ; 44 au "kernel" population and a dynamically cold population extending beyond the 2:1 resonance. We finely quantify the survey's observational biases. Our survey simulator provides a straightforward way to impose these biases on models of the trans-Neptunian orbit distributions, allowing statistical comparison to the discoveries. The OSSOS TNOs, unprecedented in their orbital precision for the size of the sample, are ideal for testing concepts of the history of giant planet migration in the solar system.

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“…Historically, the lines of evidence for the existence of distant, massive bodies that orbit the Sun have ranged from the (apparently) anomalous motion of Uranus (Pickering & Pickering 1909;Lowell 1915) and the unexpected orbital characteristics of long-period comets (Forbes 1880;Matese & Whitmire 1986), to the peculiar structure of the solar system's small body populations (Brunini & Melita 2002;Gladman & Chan 2006;Gomes et al 2006;Lykawka & Mukai 2008;Trujillo & Sheppard 2014;Volk & Malhotra 2017). The predicted physical and orbital properties of the putative planets have been equally as varied, with inferred masses and semimajor axes spanning the Mars-Jupiter range and tens to thousands of astronomical units, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamical Evolution Induced by Planet Nine

Batygin¹,

Morbidelli²

2017

131

192

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The observational census of trans-Neptunian objects with semimajor axes greater than 250 aũ exhibits unexpected orbital structure that is most readily attributed to gravitational perturbations induced by a yetundetected, massive planet. Although the capacity of this planet to (i) reproduce the observed clustering of distant orbits in physical space, (ii) facilitate the dynamical detachment of their perihelia from Neptune, and (iii) excite a population of long-period centaurs to extreme inclinations is well-established through numerical experiments, a coherent theoretical description of the dynamical mechanisms responsible for these effects remains elusive. In this work, we characterize the dynamical processes at play from semi-analytic grounds. We begin by considering a purely secular model of orbital evolution induced by Planet Nine and show that it is at odds with the ensuing stability of distant objects. Instead, the long-term survival of the clustered population of long-period Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) is enabled by a web of mean-motion resonances driven by Planet Nine. Then, by taking a compactform approach to perturbation theory, we show that it is the secular dynamics embedded within these resonances that regulate the orbital confinement and perihelion detachment of distant KBOs. Finally, we demonstrate that the onset of large-amplitude oscillations of the orbital inclinations is accomplished through the capture of lowinclination objects into a high-order secular resonance, and we identify the specific harmonic that drives the evolution. In light of the developed qualitative understanding of the governing dynamics, we offer an updated interpretation of the current observational data set within the broader theoretical framework of the Planet Nine hypothesis.

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The Curiously Warped Mean Plane of the Kuiper Belt

Cited by 51 publications

References 36 publications

Implications for Planetary System Formation from Interstellar Object 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua)

Implications for Planetary System Formation from Interstellar Object 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua)

OSSOS. VII. 800+ Trans-Neptunian Objects—The Complete Data Release

Dynamical Evolution Induced by Planet Nine

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