Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Electronic Refereed Journal Article (HTML)
· Full Refereed Journal Article (PDF/Postscript)
· arXiv e-print (arXiv:0709.3107)
· References in the article
· Citations to the Article (5) (Citation History)
· Refereed Citations to the Article
· Also-Read Articles (Reads History)
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
Formation of Kuiper Belt Binaries
Authors:
Schlichting, Hilke E.; Sari, Re'em
Affiliation:
AA(California Institute of Technology, MC 130-33, Pasadena, CA 91125; , ), AB(California Institute of Technology, MC 130-33, Pasadena, CA 91125; , )
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 673, Issue 2, pp. 1218-1224. (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
02/2008
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
Kuiper Belt, Planets and Satellites: Formation
DOI:
10.1086/524930
Bibliographic Code:
2008ApJ...673.1218S

Abstract

The discovery that a substantial fraction of Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) exists in binaries with wide separations and roughly equal masses has motivated a variety of new theories explaining their formation. Goldreich and colleagues proposed two formation scenarios: In the first, a transient binary is formed, which becomes bound with the aid of dynamical friction from the sea of small bodies (L2s mechanism); in the second, a binary is formed by three-body gravitational deflection (L3 mechanism). Here, we accurately calculate the L2s and L3 formation rates for sub-Hill velocities. While the L2s formation rate is close to previous order of magnitude estimates, the L3 formation rate is about a factor of 4 smaller. For sub-Hill KBO velocities (v<<vH) the ratio of the L3 to the L2s formation rate is 0.05(v/vH), independent of the small bodies' velocity dispersion, their surface density, or their mutual collisions. For super-Hill velocities (v>>vH) the L3 mechanism dominates over the L2s mechanism. Binary formation via the L3 mechanism competes with binary destruction by passing bodies. Given sufficient time, a statistical equilibrium abundance of binaries forms. We show that the frequency of long-lived transient binaries drops exponentially with the system's lifetime and that such transient binaries are not important for binary formation via the L3 mechanism, contrary to Lee and colleagues. For the L2s mechanism we find that the typical time that transient binaries must last to form Kuiper Belt binaries (KBBs) for a given strength of dynamical friction, D, increases only logarithmically with D. Longevity of transient binaries (with lifetimes 15Ω-1 as suggested by Astakhov and colleagues) only becomes important for very weak dynamical friction (i.e., D<~0.002) and is most likely not crucial for KBB formation.
Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)
   

Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Keywords (in text query field)
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints