THE OBSERVED ORBITAL PROPERTIES OF BINARY MINOR PLANETS

2010/01/31 by Smadar Naoz, Hagai B. Perets, Darin Ragozzine · 56 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Aerospace engineering #Asteroid #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Binary number #Eccentricity (behavior) #Gravitation #Isotropy #Orbit (dynamics) #Orbital decay #Orbital eccentricity #Orbital elements #Orbital inclination #Physics #Planet #Solar System #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Tidal heating #astro-ph.EP

paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/719/2/1775

published in The Astrophysical Journal 719(2), 1775-1783 (IOP Publishing) · submitted to ApJ, 3 figures 2 tables, mutual inclination calculation corrected, the conclusions didn't changed

arxiv created 2010/06/24 · openalex publication_date 2010/08/03 · arxiv updated 2015/05/18 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Many binary minor planets (BMPs; both binary asteroids and binary trans-Neptunian objects) are known to exist in the solar system. The currently observed orbital and physical properties of BMPs hold essential information and clues about their origin, their evolution, and the conditions under which they evolved. Here, we study the orbital properties of BMPs with currently known mutual orbits. We find that BMPs are typically highly inclined relative to their orbit around the Sun, with a distribution consistent with an isotropic distribution. BMPs not affected by tidal forces are found to have high eccentricities with non-thermal eccentricity distribution peaking at intermediate eccentricities (typically 0.4–0.6). The high inclinations and eccentricities of the BMPs suggest that BMPs evolved in a dense collisional environment, in which gravitational encounters in addition to tidal and secular Kozai effects played an important role in their orbital evolution.

Citations

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Cited by

• The orbit of transneptunian binary Manwë and Thorondor and their upcoming mutual events
• DESTRUCTION OF BINARY MINOR PLANETS DURING NEPTUNE SCATTERING
• Photometry of Centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects: 2060 Chiron (1977 UB), 10199 Chariklo (1997 CU26), 38628 Huya (2000 EB173), 28978 Ixion (2001 KX76), and 90482 Orcus (2004 DW)