Summary: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 000, 000--000 (0000) Printed 11 September 2002 (MN L A T E X style file v2.2)
A new class of trans­Neptunian objects in high­eccentricity
orbits
V.V. Emel'yanenko 1 , D.J. Asher 2 and M.E. Bailey 2
1 South Ural University, Chelyabinsk, 454080, Russia
2 Armagh Observatory, College Hill, Armagh, BT61 9DG
Last update 2002 September 9; in original form 2002 June
ABSTRACT
A symplectic integrator is used to study the evolution of high­eccentricity trans­
Neptunian objects (TNOs) over the age of the Solar system. For 26 objects, a few
cloned orbits were integrated. The existence is demonstrated of several known bodies
which are in relatively stable orbits located far from Neptune for the age of the So­
lar system, thus providing an indication of the structure of the protoplanetary disc
immediately after the period of planet formation. The orbits of these bodies cannot
be explained by a model in which a near­Neptune disc of planetesimals is gravita­
tionally scattered by Neptune. This work therefore demonstrates the existence of a
new, and populous, class of `outer' TNOs which have substantially different dynamical
characteristics from those of scattered disc objects.
Key words: Solar system -- minor planets, asteroids -- comets -- Edgeworth­Kuiper
belt -- celestial mechanics.

Source: Armagh Observatory

Collections: Physics