Kuiper带小天体动力演化

Kuiper带是指太阳系内位于离太阳30－50AU一个区域。1992年该区域陆续发现了一群半径在几十到几百公里的小天体。这些小天体在Kuiper带的分布是极其不均匀的。Kuiper带小天体的发现对人们认识太阳系的形成与演化有重要的意义。本文回顾了近年来国际上在Kuiper带小天体动力演化方面的研究，着重分析了目前国际上几种用以解释其非均匀分布的动力学机制，并提出目前该领域的一些尚未解决的问题。     

Kuiper带天体的轨道分布特性

1992年9月,夏威夷大学的D.Jewitt和加利福尼亚大学的J.Lun发现了海王星外绕太阳运行的第一个小天体1992QB1[1],开创了人类对于海王星外天体的实际观测的研究.近10年的接连不断发现,已经证实了海王星轨道外面存在着一个由大量的环绕太阳运动的小天体组成的环带[2].由于G.P.Kuiper曾在1951年的文章中提出过在冥王星的外边可能存在小天体的问题,因此人们一般把这个环带称为Kuiper带,你这些天体为“KuiperBelt　Objects”(KBOs),或从逻辑上称它们为“Trans-NeptunianObjects”(TNOs)[3]     

Kuiper带天体的轨道动力学

主要评述太阳系动力学研究的一个新方向——Kuiper带的轨道动力学。早期的研究是为了探讨短周期彗星的起源。在发现第一颗Kuiper带小天体之后，人们开始将注意力转到Kuiper带共振区的相空间结构上，Morbidelli和Malhotra分别采用不同的模型研究了这些共振区的大小。其中主要研究对象是3:2共振区。冥王星也处在这一共振区中。从冥王星的轨道特性来看，冥王星应是一颗较大的Kuiper带天体，它还拥有另外两种共振——Kozai共振和1：1超级共振。正是由于这些共振的存在，冥王星的运动才得以长期保持稳定。观测表明许多Kuiper带天体也处的海王星的平运动共振中。早期的理论认为这些平运动共振起源于灾难性事件，如碰撞。然而这都是一些小概率事件，无法对共振的形成进行合理的解释。Malhotra通过行星迁移成功地解释了冥王星被共振俘获的机制。这一机制的概率非常大，同样可以用来解释Kuiper带天体共振的形成。     

Kuiper带天体的原始分布模拟

用包括太阳、8颗大行星、冥王星和UB313以及无质量实验粒子在内的N体问题的天体动力学模型,取当前观测的天体轨道根数为初始条件,对具有确定轨道根数的551个Kuiper主带内的小天体进行了10亿年的轨道反演数值模拟.结果显示:当前观测的这些Kuiper 天体中的1/3以上在10亿年前就位于该区域,少部分位于海王星轨道之内,其他在5OAU之外;在4.5亿年前,整个Kuiper主带内的天体呈较好的正态分布,海王星3:2共振带内没有像今天这样的天体聚集现象.     

关于太阳系小天体轨道演化的算法研究

太阳系小天体的运动对应—哈密顿(Hamilton)系统,对其轨道演化的数值研究宜采用哈密顿算法(即辛算法)。本文将仔细讨论这一问题,并以主带小行星的运动为例,较系统地介绍几种辛算法对应的显式辛差分格式。     

长期共振迁移对经典Kuiper带的影响

太阳星云气体的耗散可以引起长期共振迁移(secular resonance sweeping,SRS),当长期共振的位置扫过经典Kuiper带小天体(Kuiper Belt objects,KBOs),就会激发其轨道倾角.详细研究了在太阳系紧致构形中(指四个大行星轨道彼此相距较小的状态)SRS对经典KBOs轨道倾角的激发过程,发现KBOs轨道倾角受激发的程度敏感地依赖于星云气体中面与太阳系不变平面1的夹角δ:当星云气体中面与不变平面重合,即δ=0时,经典KBOs倾角受到的激发很小;而当星云气体中面与黄道面重合,即δ≈1.6°时,在合理的初始条件下,经典KBOs的倾角最高可以被激发到30°以上.另外,通过模拟木星具有较大轨道倾角的情形以及SRS和大行星轨道迁移同时发生的情形,发现对于经典KBOs倾角的受激发程度而言,它们两者的影响都远弱于δ.     

基于智能优化算法的小天体初轨确定

经典的初轨确定方法包括Laplace方法和Gauss方法以及它们的各种变化形式. 除这些经典方法之外, 基于当今光学观测数据的特点, 学者们也陆续提出了一些其他的初轨确定方法, 包括双r (目标距离观测者的距离)方法和可行域方法. 双r方法的一种实现方式是通过猜测某两个时刻(通常是定轨弧段的首、末时刻)目标离观测者的距离, 结合观测者在空间中的位置矢量, 即可求解相应的Lambert弧段作为目标轨道的初始猜测. 进一步, 以其他观测时刻的RMS (Root Mean Square)为优化变量可以改进初始猜测从而确定初轨. 可行域方法则是针对一组初始观测参数(包括赤经、赤纬及其变率), 根据一些初始假设将目标(离观测者的)距离及其变率约束在可行域内, 并通过三角划分逐步逼近的方式寻找到使观测RMS最小的猜测解. 针对一系列模拟观测数据以及实测数据, 将智能优化算法(粒子群算法)应用于这两种初轨方法, 并将结果与改进的Laplace算法的结果进行比较. 由于双r方法不仅可以用于短弧定轨还可用于长弧关联, 所以进一步给出了针对长弧段数据的关联结果.     

地球海洋与太阳系小天体

新发现：小行星上有水冰 据2010年4月29日出版的英国《自然》的杂志报道,有两个研究小组报告了他们对直径200千米的第24号小行星“司理星”（24Themis）的最新观测结果。借助于美国宇航局设在夏威夷的红外线望远镜设施（Infrared Telescope Facility）,他们都观测到了一种红外吸收特征,预示着该小行星表面有薄薄的一层霜冻,还有一些未知的有机化合物。     

漫话矮行星与太阳系小天体

我们所在的太阳系,是银河系中一个典型的行星系。它以太阳为中心,包括八颗行星,即水星、金星、地球、火星、木星、土星、天王星和海王星;有至少167颗已知的卫星;一些矮行星（包括类冥天体）：还有大量的、难以计数的太阳系小天体。太阳拥有太阳系内已知质量的99．86％,并以引力主宰着太阳系;木星和土星是太阳系内最大的两颗行星,它们占了剩余质量的90％以上。     

拖着长尾巴的小天体——彗星

彗星是善变的天体。当它位于木星轨道以外、距离太阳非常遥远时,根本就没有耀人眼目的尾巴,也不存在壮大声势的彗发。彗星仅仅是直径几百米到几十千米的“彗核”,在普通望远镜中呈现为暗淡的星点。当它运动到木星与火星的轨道之间时,接收到较多的太阳光辐射,表面部分物质蒸发为气态,形成“彗发”。     

The CFEPS Kuiper Belt Survey: Strategy and presurvey results

We present the data acquisition strategy and characterization procedures for the Canada-France Ecliptic Plane Survey (CFEPS), a sub-component of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey. The survey began in early 2003 and as of summer 2005 has covered 430 square degrees of sky within a few degrees of the ecliptic. Moving objects beyond the orbit of Uranus are detected to a magnitude limit of mR=23-24 (depending on the image quality). To track as large a sample as possible and avoid introducing followup bias, we have developed a multi-epoch observing strategy that is spread over several years. We present the evolution of the uncertainties in ephemeris position and orbital elements of a small 10-object sample of objects tracked through these epochs as part of a preliminary presurvey starting a year before the main CFEPS project. We describe the CFEPS survey simulator, to be released in 2006, which allows theoretical models of the Kuiper belt to be compared with the survey discoveries. The simulator utilizes the well-documented pointing history of CFEPS, with characterized detection efficiencies as a function of magnitude and rate of motion on the sky. Using the presurvey objects we illustrate the usage of the simulator in modeling the classical Kuiper belt. The primary purpose of this paper is to allow a user to immediately exploit the CFEPS data set and releases as they become available in the coming months.     

Photometric Light Curve for the Kuiper Belt Object 2000 EB173 on 78 Nights

Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) are generally very faint and cannot in practice be monitored with a well-sampled long-term light curve; so our discovery of the bright KBO 2000 EB₁₇₃ offers an excellent opportunity for synoptic studies. We present a well-sampled photometric time series (77 R and 29 V magnitudes on 78 nights) over a 225-day time span centered on the 2001 opposition. The light curve (corrected to the year 2001 opposition distance) varies from 19.11 to 19.39 mag with a single peak that is smooth, time symmetric, and coincident with opposition. All variations in the light curve are consistent with a linear opposition surge (R_OPP=19.083+0.125∗α, where α is the solar phase angle), while any rotational modulation must have a peak-to-peak amplitude of less than 0.097 mag. This is the first measured opposition surge for any KBO (other than Pluto). The V−R color is 0.63±0.02, with no apparent variation with phase at the few percent level. With R=19.11 at opposition, 2000 EB₁₇₃ remains the brightest known KBO and a prime target for future photometric and spectroscopic studies.     

Towards initial mass functions for asteroids and Kuiper Belt Objects

Our goal is to understand primary accretion of the first planetesimals. Some examples are seen today in the asteroid belt, providing the parent bodies for the primitive meteorites. The primitive meteorite record suggests that sizeable planetesimals formed over a period longer than a million years, each of which being composed entirely of an unusual, but homogeneous, mixture of millimeter-size particles. We sketch a scenario that might help explain how this occurred, in which primary accretion of 10-100 km size planetesimals proceeds directly, if sporadically, from aerodynamically-sorted millimeter-size particles (generically “chondrules”). These planetesimal sizes are in general agreement with the currently observed asteroid mass peak near 100 km diameter, which has been identified as a “fossil” property of the pre-erosion, pre-depletion population. We extend our primary accretion theory to make predictions for outer Solar System planetesimals, which may also have a preferred size in the 100 km diameter range. We estimate formation rates of planetesimals and explore parameter space to assess the conditions needed to match estimates of both asteroid and Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) formation rates. For parameters that satisfy observed mass accretion rates of Myr-old protoplanetary nebulae, the scenario is roughly consistent with not only the “fossil” sizes of the asteroids, and their estimated production rates, but also with the observed spread in formation ages of chondrules in a given chondrite, and with a tolerably small radial diffusive mixing during this time between formation and accretion. As previously noted, the model naturally helps explain the peculiar size distribution of chondrules within such objects. The optimum range of parameters, however, represents a higher gas density and fractional abundance of solids, and a smaller difference between Keplerian and pressure-supported orbital velocities, than “canonical” models of the solar nebula. We discuss several potential explanations for these differences. The scenario also produces 10-100 km diameter primary KBOs, and also requires an enhanced abundance of solids to match the mass production rate estimates for KBOs (and presumably the planetesimal precursors of the ice giants themselves). We discuss the advantages and plausibility of the scenario, outstanding issues, and future directions of research.     

The color of the Kuiper belt Core

Recent dynamical analyses of the Kuiper belt have introduced a rigorous classification scheme, determined the mean orbital plane, and identified “Core” and “Halo” populations as a function of inclination with respect to this plane (Elliot, J.L., Kern, S.D., Clancy, K.B., Gulbis, A.A.S., Millis, R.L., Buie, M.W., Wasserman, L.H., Chiang, E.I., Jordan, A.B., Trilling, D.E., Meech, K.J., 2005. Astron. J. 129, 1117-1162). Here, we use new observations and existing data to investigate the colors of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) within this framework. With respect to the bulk KBO color distribution (all objects for which we have B-V and V-R colors; median B-R=1.56), we find that the population of objects classified following (Elliot, J.L., Kern, S.D., Clancy, K.B., Gulbis, A.A.S., Millis, R.L., Buie, M.W., Wasserman, L.H., Chiang, E.I., Jordan, A.B., Trilling, D.E., Meech, K.J., 2005. Astron. J. 129, 1117-1162) as Classical tends to be red (B-R>1.56) while the Scattered Near population is mostly neutral (B-R<1.56). Colors of Scattered Extended and Resonant objects are consistent with the bulk distribution. Separating objects into specific resonances demonstrates that the color of the Resonant sample is dominated by KBOs in the 3:2 resonance, which is consistent with previous findings. Unlike the objects in the 3:2 resonance, however, the majority of objects in the 5:2 resonance are neutral and all but one of the objects in the 4:3, 5:3, 7:4, 2:1, and 7:3 resonances are red. In particular, the objects in the 7:4 resonance are remarkably red. We find that the colors of KBOs in the Core (low-inclination) and Halo (high-inclination) are statistically different, with Core objects being primarily red and Halo objects having a slight tendency to be neutral. Notably, virtually all of the non-Resonant Core objects are red. This combination of low inclination, unperturbed orbits and red colors in the Core may be indicative of a relic grouping of objects.     

The origin of the Kuiper Belt high-inclination population

I simulate the orbital evolution of the four major planets and a massive primordial planetesimal disk composed of 10⁴ objects, which perturb the planets but not themselves. As Neptune migrates by energy and angular momentum exchange with the planetesimals, a large number of primordial Neptune-scattered objects are formed. These objects may experience secular, Kozai, and mean motion resonances that induce temporary decrease of their eccentricities. Because planets are migrating, some planetesimals can escape those resonances while in a low-eccentricity incursion, thus avoiding the return path to Neptune close encounter dynamics. In the end, this mechanism produces stable orbits with high inclination and moderate eccentricities. The population so formed together with the objects coming from the classical resonance sweeping process, originates a bimodal distribution for the Kuiper Belt orbits. The inclinations obtained by the simulations can attain values above 30° and their distribution resembles a debiased distribution for the high-inclination population coming from the real classical Kuiper Belt.     

A rotational light curve for the Kuiper belt object 1997 CV29

We present R- and V-band rotational light curves for classical Kuiper belt object 1997 CV₂₉. The imaging data was obtained from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) archive located at the Canadian Astronomical Data Center (CADC). The data consist of one nights observations of a series of 42, 8 minute exposures in R band followed by 33, 8 minute exposures in V band acquired on the following night. Using relative photometry we determined a highly significant variation in the brightness of 1997 CV₂₉. Using phase-dispersion-minimization we find 8.0, 11.2, and 15.8 hrs to be the most likely, periods of rotation and we argue that the ∼16 hr period is the most likely based on our limited observing window. The phased light curve has a peak-to-peak range of Δm?0.4±0.1 mag suggesting an axial ratio of a/b?1.45.     

Shaping the Kuiper belt size distribution by shattering large but strengthless bodies

The observed size distribution of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs)—small icy and rocky Solar System bodies orbiting beyond Neptune—is well described by a power law at large KBO sizes. However, recent work by Bernstein et al. (2004, Astron. J. 128, 1364-1390) indicates that the size distribution breaks and becomes shallower for KBOs smaller than about 70 km in size. Here we show that we expect such a break at KBO radius ∼40 km since destructive collisions are frequent for smaller KBOs. Specifically, we assume that KBOs are gravity-dominated bodies with negligible material strength. This gives a power-law slope q?3 where the number N>r of KBOs larger than a size r is given by N>r∝r1−q; the break location follows from this slope through a self-consistent calculation. The existence of this break, the break's location, and the power-law slope we expect below the break are consistent with the findings of Bernstein et al. (2004, Astron. J. 128, 1364-1390). The agreement with observations indicates that KBOs as small as ∼40 km are effectively strengthless.     

A derivation of the luminosity function of the Kuiper belt from a broken power-law size distribution

We have derived a model of the Kuiper belt luminosity function exhibited by a broken power-law size distribution. This model allows direct comparison of the observed luminosity function to the underlying size distribution. We discuss the importance of the radial distribution model in determining the break diameter. We determine a best-fit break-diameter of the Kuiper belt size-distribution of 30<Db<90 km via a maximum-likelihood fit of our model to the observed luminosity function. We also confirm that the observed luminosity function for m(R)∼21-28 is consistent with a broken power-law size distribution, and exhibits a break at .