Accretion in the Early Outer Solar System

1999/06/08 by Scott J. Kenyon, Jane Luu, Jane X. Luu · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Accretion (finance) #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Formation and evolution of the Solar System #Nebula #Neptune #Nice model #Physics #Planet #Planetary migration #Planetary system #Planetesimal #Solar System #Solar mass #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/308000

12 pages of text, 3 tables, 2 figures; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

arxiv created 1999/06/08 · openalex publication_date 1999/11/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We describe calculations of the evolution of an ensemble of small planetesimals in the outer solar system. In a solar nebula with a mass of several times the minimum mass solar nebula, objects with radii of 100-1000 km can form on timescales of 10-100 Myr. Model luminosity functions derived from these calculations agree with current observations of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune (Kuiper Belt objects). New surveys with current and planned instruments can place better constraints on the mass and dynamics of the solar nebula by measuring the luminosity function at red magnitudes, m R ≥ 28.

Citations

• The Discovery of Halley-sized Kuiper Belt Objects Using the Hubble Space Telescope
• An Analysis of the Statistics of the [ITAL]Hubble Space Telescope[/ITAL] Kuiper Belt Object Search
• The Calibration of the HST Kuiper Belt Object Search: Setting the Record Straight
• The Formation of Planetesimals
• A Circumstellar Disk Around β Pictoris
• The distribution of mass in the planetary system and solar nebula
• The Mauna Kea-Cerro-Tololo (MKCT) Kuiper Belt and Centaur Survey
• Discovery of the candidate Kuiper belt object 1992 QB1
• Accretion in the Early Kuiper Belt. II. Fragmentation
• The Origin of Pluto's Orbit: Implications for the Solar System Beyond Neptune
• A Planet Orbiting the Star ρ Coronae Borealis
• Collisional Erosion in the Primordial Edgeworth‐Kuiper Belt and the Generation of the 30–50 AU Kuiper Gap
• Keck Pencil-Beam Survey for Faint Kuiper Belt Objects

Cited by

• Limits on the location of planetesimal formation in self-gravitating protostellar discs
• FORMING THE COLD CLASSICAL KUIPER BELT IN A LIGHT DISK
• The Small Numbers of Large Kuiper Belt Objects