The bimodal colors of Centaurs and small Kuiper belt objects

Peixinho, N.; Delsanti, A.; Guilbert-Lepoutre, A.; Gafeira, Ricardo; Lacerda, Pedro

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201219057

Cited by 81 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…The Subaru hot KBO data nearly triple the number of high-S/N KBO color measurements between H=7 and H=9 contained in the Peixinho et al (2015) database and are instrumental in solidifying the observation of bimodality in that size range, which was previously hinted at using far fewer data points (Fraser & Brown 2012;Peixinho et al 2012Peixinho et al , 2015.…”

Section: Comparison With Larger Hot Kbosmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…To date, hundreds of KBO colors have been measured, revealing the general properties of low albedos and reddish colors across the intermediate and small size ranges, extending down through objects with diameters of 50km and less (Hainaut et al 2012). Several studies have suggested a color bimodality among objects in the dynamically excited (i.e., hot) KBO population (e.g., Fraser & Brown 2012;Peixinho et al 2012;Lacerda et al 2014). A bimodal color distribution would have major implications for the formation of these bodies, indicating two types of surface compositions and perhaps two different formation environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some have argued that, based on the putative color bimodality of similarly sized hot KBOs, the two color classes in the Centaurs correspond to the two color classes observed in the Kuiper Belt (Fraser & Brown 2012;Peixinho et al 2012Peixinho et al , 2015. Others have posited that the bimodality in the Centaur color distribution could have arisen from divergent orbital histories of these objects as they were scattered inward into their present-day eccentric orbits: objects that spent a larger fraction of the time at small heliocentric distances would have experienced on average higher temperatures and space weathering, which may have altered their surfaces (Melita & Licandro 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Bimodal Color Distribution of Small Kuiper Belt Objects*

Wong

Brown

2017

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We conducted a two-night photometric survey of small Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) near opposition using the wide-field Hyper Suprime-Cam instrument on the 8.2m Subaru Telescope. The survey covered about 90deg 2 of sky, with each field imaged in the g and i bands. We detected 356 KBOs, ranging in absolute magnitude from 6.5 to 10.4. Filtering for high-inclination objects within the hot KBO population, we show that the g−i color distribution is strongly bimodal, indicative of two color classes-the red and very red subpopulations. After categorizing objects into the two subpopulations by color, we present the first dedicated analysis of the magnitude distributions of the individual color subpopulations and demonstrate that the two distributions are roughly identical in shape throughout the entire size range covered by our survey. Comparing the color distribution of small hot KBOs with that of Centaurs, we find that they have similar bimodal shapes, thereby providing strong confirmation of previous explanations for the attested bimodality of Centaurs. We also show that the magnitude distributions of the two KBO color subpopulations and the two color subpopulations observed in the Jupiter Trojans are statistically indistinguishable. Finally, we discuss a hypothesis describing the origin of the KBO color bimodality based on our survey results.

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Section: Comparison With Larger Hot Kbosmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Bimodal Color Distribution of Small Kuiper Belt Objects*

Wong

Brown

2017

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“…This is not the first time that two spectrally distinct groups (i.e., a bimodality) are observed for relatively similar compositions among solar system small bodies. Emery et al (2011) reported the presence of two compositional groups among the Jupiter Trojans, while Tegler & Romanishin (1998) and later Peixinho et al (2012) reported the presence of two color groups among small TNOs and Centaurs.…”

Section: Compositional Analysis Of Our Meteorite and Asteroid Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple and Fast: The Accretion of Ordinary Chondrite Parent Bodies

Vernazza

Zanda

Binzel

et al. 2014

ApJ

125

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Although petrologic, chemical, and isotopic studies of ordinary chondrites and meteorites in general have largely helped establish a chronology of the earliest events of planetesimal formation and their evolution, there are several questions that cannot be resolved via laboratory measurements and/or experiments alone. Here, we propose the rationale for several new constraints on the formation and evolution of ordinary chondrite parent bodies (and, by extension, most planetesimals) from newly available spectral measurements and mineralogical analysis of main-belt S-type asteroids (83 objects) and unequilibrated ordinary chondrite meteorites (53 samples). Based on the latter, we suggest that spectral data may be used to distinguish whether an ordinary chondrite was formed near the surface or in the interior of its parent body. If these constraints are correct, the suggested implications include that: (1) large groups of compositionally similar asteroids are a natural outcome of planetesimal formation and, consequently, meteorites within a given class can originate from multiple parent bodies; (2) the surfaces of large (up to ∼200 km) S-type main-belt asteroids mostly expose the interiors of the primordial bodies, a likely consequence of impacts by small asteroids (D < 10 km) in the early solar system; (3) the duration of accretion of the H chondrite parent bodies was likely short (instantaneous or in less than ∼10 5 yr, but certainly not as long as 1 Myr); (4) LL-like bodies formed closer to the Sun than H-like bodies, a possible consequence of the radial mixing and size sorting of chondrules in the protoplanetary disk prior to accretion.

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“…TNOs, in general, have red optical colors in g-, r-, and i-bands; even the "neutral" TNO surfaces, sometimes referred to as "blue" in the literature, are slightly redder than solar. It is well accepted that the small dynamically excited TNOs and Centaurs exhibit a bimodal color distribution, with red and neutral classes (e.g., Tegler & Romanishin 1998;Peixinho et al 2003Peixinho et al , 2012Peixinho et al , 2015Tegler et al 2003Tegler et al , 2016Wong & Brown 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Col-OSSOS: z-Band Photometry Reveals Three Distinct TNO Surface Types

Pike

Fraser

Schwamb

et al. 2017

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Several different classes of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) have been identified based on their optical and near-infrared colors. As part of the Colours of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (Col-OSSOS), we have obtained g-, r-, and z-band photometry of 26 TNOs using Subaru and Gemini Observatories. Previous color surveys have not utilized z-band reflectance, and the inclusion of this band reveals significant surface reflectance variations between sub-populations. The colors of TNOs in g−r and r−z show obvious structure, and appear consistent with the previously measured bi-modality in g−r. The distribution of colors of the two dynamically excited surface types can be modeled using the two-component mixing models from Fraser & Brown. With the combination of g−r and r−z, the dynamically excited classes can be separated cleanly into red and neutral surface classes. In g−r and r−z, the two dynamically excited surface groups are also clearly distinct from the cold classical TNO surfaces, which are red, with  -g r 0.85 and r−z  0.6, while all dynamically excited objects with similar g−r colors exhibit redder r−z colors. The z-band photometry makes it possible for the first time to differentiate the red excited TNO surfaces from the red cold classical TNO surfaces. The discovery of different r−z colors for these cold classical TNOs makes it possible to search for cold classical surfaces in other regions of the Kuiper Belt and to completely separate cold classical TNOs from the dynamically excited population, which overlaps in orbital parameter space.

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The bimodal colors of Centaurs and small Kuiper belt objects

Cited by 81 publications

References 88 publications

The Bimodal Color Distribution of Small Kuiper Belt Objects*

The Bimodal Color Distribution of Small Kuiper Belt Objects*

Multiple and Fast: The Accretion of Ordinary Chondrite Parent Bodies

Col-OSSOS: z-Band Photometry Reveals Three Distinct TNO Surface Types

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