2008/08/01 by E. L. Schaller, Michael E. Brown, M. E. Brown · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Absorption spectroscopy #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Infrared #Infrared spectroscopy #Optics #Physics #Planetary Science and Exploration #Satellite #Solar System #Spectral line #Spectroscopy #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/592232
9 Pages, 2 figures
arxiv created 2008/08/01 · openalex publication_date 2008/08/22 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We have acquired near-infrared spectra of Kuiper Belt objects 2003 UZ117, 2005 CB79, and 2004 SB60 with NIRC on the Keck I telescope. These objects are dynamically close to the core of the 2003 EL61 collisional family and were suggested to be potential fragments of this collision by Ragozzine and Brown. We find that the spectra of 2003 UZ117 and 2005 CB79 both show the characteristic strong water ice absorption features seen exclusively on 2003 EL61, its largest satellite, and the six other known collisional fragments. In contrast, we find that the near-infrared spectrum of 2004 SB60 is essentially featureless with a fraction of water ice of less than 5%. We discuss the implications of the discovery of these additional family members for understanding the formation and evolution of this collisional family in the outer solar system.