Chapter6 Traus
&ivelysparsepopulationofasteroids,kaurs,existsbetweenJupiteraune。Somearedarkandred,similartothetarry(tholiypeasteroids,butothersarebluer,suggestingthatmuchoftheirsurfacesmaybefreshlyexposedice。Becausetheirorbitseclosetothegiaheyareingferthanabouttenmillionyears。Probably,taursareTNOsthathavebeenscatteredinerhapsbyaterwithheriionslasprobablyheminwardsuntiltheybeeshort-periodets,spendiheinnerSolarSystem,wheretheyareheatedbytheSuheirvolatilesiaculartails。
Sixtrojashavebeendiscoveredeptune’sleadingLagrangianpoint。Dynamicalargumevastdisbianpoints)arojaimesmorehanJupiter’s。
&uheKuiperbeltaNOs。OnefamilyofKuiperbeltobjectstravelin3:2orbitalresohuheclass,whicludesPluto,areknolutinos’,nottobefusedwithPlutoid,whichistheofficialIAUtermforanyToberankedasadlutoidsbeplutinos,classicalKuiperbeltobjects(lagorbitalresohune),orScatteredDiskobjeai。ClassicalKuiperbeltobjeowivelyas‘os’(‘QB1-os’)becausethefirstKuiperbeltobjecttobediscoveredafterPlutoboretheprovisioion1992QB1。
Plutoand
&iesofmostTNOsarepoorlykoanditssatellitearesuffitlylargeaohavebeeelescopicallyforseveraldecades。Frehane,anddioxidehavebeeroscopiPluto,atelesagesrevealdarkpatchesthatareprobablytholin-richresidues。Pluto’sdensitysuggeststhatrockmustbeabout70%ofitstotalmass,andmostlikelyitisinternallydiffereharockydfeasiblyaniron-riercore)overlainbyamalyofwater-icetoppedbyamorevolatile-richcrust。
Nearperihelion(ere1989),Plutohasamospherepossiblyderiton’s。BecausePluto’sgravityissoweak,animaginaryshelleng99%ofitsatmospherewouldextendto300kilometresabovethesurface,whereasfortheEarththeequivaleisonly40kilometres。MuchofPluto’satmosphereisexpectedtoseontothesurfacewhiledistaheSunincreasesfrom4。5billioperihelionto7。4billioaphelionin2113。Itisapitythatwemissedthecetostudy
Plutofredurihefly-pastbyNASA’sNewHorizonmissiontoPlutowillo2015,bywhichtimemuospheremayhavesedahe‘perma’surfaeathaseasonalshroudeo’s6。4-dayrotatiohesameastheorbitalperiodestsatellite,,whichalsorotatessynously。Thisrelationshipisaresulttides,aPlutoandahesamefacestowardseachother。Plutoismoreevenlymatsizeandmasstothaordlasestsatellite。assisabout12%ofPluto’s,anditorbitsatadistanlyabout17PlutoradiifromPluto’sparison,theMoon’smassisonly1。2%ofEarth’sanditsorbitalradiusis60Earthradii。’sproximitytoPlutoexplainswhyitremaiil1978。Pluto’stwosmallersatellites,NixandHydra,weredis2005。TheseorbitinPluto’sorbitalplaneio4:1and6:1orbitalresoh。
SeenfromPluto’ssurfawouldlookeighttimeswiderthantheMoondoesfromEarth。Becausetheirrelativemassesaresosimilar,theiroreofmass(their‘barytre’)isobutatapointihetwobodies。Althoughdoubleasteroidssuchas(90)AntiopeanddoubleKuiperbeltobjectssuchas2001QW332(200-kilometrediametertwins)areknown,Pluto-isthemostevenlymatchedpairamongbhtotasplasord>
’ssurfaier-icewithtraonia。ItsdensityislessthanPluto,butstillsuffitforasubstantialrockycore。ayturnouttobearelativelypassive,heavilycrateredglobe,lutomightimpressusallbybeinggeologicallyactive,asthevarietyinitssurfacematerialssuggests。
Oheremaybeareasonfororeaitslarger。ThisisbecausePluto’saxialinis119。6°(beihan90°,thismeansitsrotatirade)。’sorbitisexaPluto’sequatorialplane,sosharesthehighinrelativetotheirjointorbitabouttheSuidalpullsontheSunandPlutomightfeasiblybestroocausemeltihinahisisthewearefacedwiththeintriguiofaEuropa-likesurfacefordeveiallylife-bearihit。Thebesthintwehavesofariraofobtainedin2007whidwater-ithatisstilliallineform,intrasttotheamorphoussubmicroscopicstateoficethathasbeeosolarultravioletradiationandientformorethahousahesimplestexplanationforthisisgeysers,sprayingoutfreshitheinterior,liketheplumesonEnceladus。
&
&sPlutoaotherTNOsasrahetime。Ofthese,Eris,Makemake,andHaumeaareofficiallyreizedasdlaerisflatteherbecauseofitsrapidrotatiohan4hfrom。TheseareclassicalKuiperbeltobjects,exceptErisand2007OR10(ScatteredDiskobjects),2002TC302(5:2orbitalresohune),Ixion(plutino),andSedna,whiodditywaybeyoeredDisk,inahighlyellipticalorbithelionat975AU。
&helargesttraus
ApartfromPluto,thesizesoftheseobjectsarepoorlykhoseforwhigleroundnumberisgiveheirdimeesbasedonassumptionsabouttheiralbedeoftheisunlighttheyreflect)。Iftheyarelessrefleassumed,theymustbelarger,butiftheyaremorereflective,thebesmaller。Sizeestimatesbeimprovedbymeasuringthermalradiationfromtheirsurfaces,buttheyaresocold(–230°Corless)thatthisbealybytelesspace,abovetheEarth’satmiveies,itisualloftheseobjectswillsurviveien’lists。
TNeinred(probablywidespreadtholinsacrosstheirsurfaces)toblue-grey(exposediorphouseaisoheblue-greyosmass(derivedfromtheorbitsofitssatellites)showsthatitsdensityisgreaterthanPluto’s,soitmusthavearelativelyhigh。OnQuaoar,eidammoniahydratehavebeeroscopically,suggestiresurfagargumentssimilartothoseadvancedfor)。Thiswouldrequireeithergeologicalaajorimpattogeasuffitlywidespreadtodomirum。
&ween2%and3%ofTohavesatellites,whichissimilartotheabueroidswithsatellites。TheproportiohelargerTNOsandposesproblemsintryingtoatfin。
IfNASA’sNewHorizonmissionremaierits2015fly-byofPluto-,itwillbedirewardstoamoredistantThasyettobedetermiideallywillbeablue-greyobjetrastwithPluto’sreddishnature。
Atrau?
MostastrothatwehavediscoveredallthelargeobjegingtoourSolarSystem。ly,thereothingofplaarysizehidingintheKuiperbelt。IfsuobjectwerepreseheKuiperbeltwouldbeunstable。However,thereremaintwopossibilitiesforanoutlyi(popularlydubbed‘Plahathaveegoneaway。Othereisah-massobjeindetricorbitbetween80and170AUfromtheSun。Thepresenceofsuchalargebiwardsbyaterwithune)couldexplainanobservedsuddendrop-offiionoftheKuiperbeltbeyond48AU,knownasthe‘Kuipercliff’。Itmightalsoatfortheextremesgevidencedbyobjectssua。
Thesedpossibilityarisesbeg-periodetsiiallyfromaparticularregioherthaninginfromraions。IthasbeeheseweredislodgedfromtheOortCloudbyaJupiter-massbodyabout32,000AUfromtheSun。Thiswouldbehard,butnotimpossible,todetectbytelescope。A‘pla’sofaroutbegravitationallyboucouldbejustadererthroughiellarspace,possiblyestheplaemofaar。