WATER ICE IN THE KUIPER BELT

Journal Article · Fri Jun 15 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/143/6/146· OSTI ID:22034438

Brown, M E; Fraser, W C ^[1]

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1. Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

We examine a large collection of low-resolution near-infrared spectra of Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) and centaurs in an attempt to understand the presence of water ice in the Kuiper Belt. We find that water ice on the surface of these objects occurs in three separate manners: (1) Haumea family members uniquely show surfaces of nearly pure water ice, presumably a consequence of the fragmentation of the icy mantle of a larger differentiated proto-Haumea; (2) large objects with absolute magnitudes of H < 3 (and a limited number to H = 4.5) have surface coverings of water ice-perhaps mixed with ammonia-that appears to be related to possibly ancient cryovolcanism on these large objects; and (3) smaller KBOs and centaurs which are neither Haumea family members nor cold-classical KBOs appear to divide into two families (which we refer to as 'neutral' and 'red'), each of which is a mixture of a common nearly neutral component and either a slightly red or very red component that also includes water ice. A model suggesting that the difference between neutral and red objects due to formation in an early compact solar system either inside or outside, respectively, of the {approx}20 AU methanol evaporation line is supported by the observation that methanol is only detected on the reddest objects, which are those which would be expected to have the most of the methanol containing mixture.

• OSTI ID: 22034438
• Journal Information: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Journal Name: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online) Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 143; ISSN 1538-3881
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
AMMONIA
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
EVAPORATION
FRAGMENTATION
ICE
INFRARED SPECTRA
METHANOL
MIXTURES
NEAR INFRARED RADIATION
PLANETS
RESOLUTION
SATELLITES
SOLAR SYSTEM
SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION
SURFACES
TRITIUM
WATER