J/ApJ/743/1 Astrometry of seven wide trans-Neptunian binaries (Parker+, 2011)
Characterization of seven ultra-wide trans-Neptunian binaries.
Parker A.H., Kavelaars J.J., Petit J.-M., Jones L., Gladman B., Parker J.
<Astrophys. J., 743, 1 (2011)>
=2011ApJ...743....1P 2011ApJ...743....1P
ADC_Keywords: Minor planets ; Positional data
Keywords: Kuiper belt: general - planets and satellites: formation -
planets and satellites: dynamical evolution and stability - astrometry
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 CH69, em=0.9) and the most widely
separated, weakly bound (2001 QW322, a/RH∼0.22) binary minor
planets known, and also contains the system with lowest-measured mass
of any TNB (2000 CF105, Msys∼1.85x1017kg). 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.
Description:
A targeted observational campaign from 2008 to 2011 was executed from
Gemini North using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) in
imaging mode, taken with the rG0303 filter. Additional observations
during this period were made from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) with
the FORS2 instrument. Single-epoch observations were also made in 2010
April from Magellan with the Megacam imager.
Significant archival data also exist for all systems. We used the
Solar System Object Search (S. D. J. Gwyn 2011, in preparation)
service provided by the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre to locate and
download images from the CFHT and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) public
archives that contained our targets, and we also located images of our
targets from the Mayall, Hale, and WIYN telescopes.
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
table2.dat 46 418 Mutual astrometry of 7 systems
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See also:
B/astorb : Orbits of Minor Planets (Bowell+ 2013)
J/A+A/522/A93 : Short-term variability of 29 minor planets (Thirouin+, 2010)
J/ApJS/189/336 : HST astrometry of TNOs (Benecchi+, 2010)
J/A+A/508/451 : Light curves of 5 Trans-Neptunian Objects (Perna+, 2009)
J/AJ/133/26 : Solar phase curves of distant icy bodies (Rabinowitz+, 2007)
J/A+A/468/L13 : The trans-Neptunian object 2005FY9 (Ortiz+, 2007)
J/A+A/380/347 : BVRI photometry of 27 Kuiper Belt Objects (Delsanti+, 2001)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table2.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 9 A9 --- Name System name (1)
11- 23 F13.5 d JD Julian Date of the observation
25- 30 F6.4 arcsec Sep Separation in the tangent plane
32- 39 F8.4 deg PA Position angle (2)
41- 46 F6.4 arcsec epos Positional error (3)
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Note (1): All observations of 2000CF105, 2006BR284, 2006JZ81, and 2006CH69 from
this work. Some observations of 2001QW322 from Petit et al.
(2008Sci...322..432P 2008Sci...322..432P). Some observations of 2003UN284 and 2005EO304
from Kern (2006; PhD Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Note (2): Given in degrees East of equatorial North (J2000), rotating
around the primary.
Note (3): Positional error of each component estimated by
(seeing FWHM)/(Signal-to-Noise ratio), summed in quadrature.
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History:
From electronic version of the journal
(End) Greg Schwarz [AAS], Emmanuelle Perret [CDS] 26-Apr-2013