A Correlation between Inclination and Color in the Classical Kuiper Belt
By C. Trujillo, M. Brown. 2002
158 citations recorded by the source corpus.
We have measured broadband optical BVR photometry of 24 classical and scattered Kuiper belt objects (KBOs), approximately doubling the published sample of colors for these classes of objects. We find a statistically significant correlation between object color and inclination in the classical Kuiper belt using our data. The color and inclination correlation increases in significance after the inclusion of additional data points culled from all published works. Apparently, this color and inclination correlation has not been more widely reported because the Plutinos show no such correlation and thus have been a major contaminant in previous samples. The color and inclination correlation excludes simple origins of color diversity, such as the presence of a coloring agent without regard to dynamical effects. Unfortunately, our current knowledge of the Kuiper belt precludes us from understanding whether the color and inclination trend is due to environmental factors, such as collisional resurfacing, or primordial population effects. A perihelion and color correlation is also evident, although this appears to be a spurious correlation induced by sampling bias, as perihelion and inclination are correlated in the observed sample of KBOs.
Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/710157250a304b336cfecfce1e58f5dd2d531588
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In Astronomy and Astrophysics
- A. Morbidelli
- D. Nesvorný
- Harold Levison
- R. Gomes
- Kleomenis Tsiganis
- M. Brown
- C. Laerhoven
- William Bottke
Citations in the corpus
- Origin of the structure of the Kuiper belt during a dynamical instability in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune (2007, background): “The cold population is deficient of objects with a neutral spectral gradient, often called ‘gray objects’ (Tegler & Romanishin 2000; Trujillo & Brown 2002; Doressoundiram et al. 2005).”
- The Compositions of Kuiper Belt Objects (2011, background): “Subsequent observations revealed that these objects shared a common red coloring (Trujillo & Brown 2002).”
- The origin of the Kuiper Belt high-inclination population (2003, background): “Trujillo and Brown (2002) predicts a correlation of high inclinations with lower B-R colors.”