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1992QB11],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]

Orbit Distribution Nature of Kuiper Belt Objects

The statistical analysis for the orbital semimajor axis of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) shows that the weighted mean of heliocentric distances of 528 Trans-Neptunian object (TNOs) with respect to their masses is 43.3AU, and their radial distribution is approximately to close to a normal distribution having maximum of distribution about at 43 All except the Plutinos (Little Plutos) in the 3:2 Neptune resonance region. This distribution is not be understood by resonance capture mechanism. But it similar to the radial distribution of particles in protoplanet nebula computed by simulating quantum theory. Comparing with the normal distribution, we can see an absence of objects in the region beyond the 3:2 Neptune resonance region to 43 AU. The distribution of eccentricities of the TNOs shows that these absent objects have likely been removed to the resonance region.