Impact craters on Pluto and Charon indicate a deficit of small Kuiper belt objects
| Autor: | K N, Singer, W B, McKinnon, B, Gladman, S, Greenstreet, E B, Bierhaus, S A, Stern, A H, Parker, S J, Robbins, P M, Schenk, W M, Grundy, V J, Bray, R A, Beyer, R P, Binzel, H A, Weaver, L A, Young, J R, Spencer, J J, Kavelaars, J M, Moore, A M, Zangari, C B, Olkin, T R, Lauer, C M, Lisse, K, Ennico, G E, Weigle |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Solar System Multidisciplinary New horizons 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences FOS: Physical sciences 01 natural sciences Billion years Astrobiology Pluto Impact crater Neptune 0103 physical sciences 010303 astronomy & astrophysics Geology Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | arXiv |
| ISSN: | 1095-9203 0036-8075 |
| DOI: | 10.1126/science.aap8628 |
| Popis: | Singer, K.N., et al., "Impact craters on Pluto and Charon indicate a deficit of small Kuiper belt objects." Science 363, 6430 (March 2019): p. 955-9 doi 10.1126/SCIENCE.AAP8628 ©2019 Author(s) The flyby of Pluto and Charon by the New Horizons spacecraft provided high-resolution images of cratered surfaces embedded in the Kuiper belt, an extensive region of bodies orbiting beyond Neptune. Impact craters on Pluto and Charon were formed by collisions with other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) with diameters from ~40 kilometers to ~300 meters, smaller than most KBOs observed directly by telescopes. We find a relative paucity of small craters ≲13 kilometers in diameter, which cannot be explained solely by geological resurfacing. This implies a deficit of small KBOs (≲1 to 2 kilometers in diameter). Some surfaces on Pluto and Charon are likely ≳4 billion years old, thus their crater records provide information on the size-frequency distribution of KBOs in the early Solar System. ©2019 |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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