The Correlated Colors of Transneptunian Binaries

Abstract

We report resolved photometry of the primary and secondary components of 23 transneptunian binaries obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. V-I colors of the components range from 0.7 to 1.5 with a median uncertainty of 0.06 magnitudes. The colors of the primaries and secondaries are correlated with a Spearman rank correlation probability of 99.99991%, 5 sigma for a normal distribution. Fits to the primary vs. secondary colors are identical to within measurement uncertainties. The color range of binaries as a group is indistinguishable from that of the larger population of apparently single transneptunian objects. Whatever mechanism produced the colors of apparently single TNOs acted equally on binary systems. The most likely explanation is that the colors of transneptunian objects and binaries alike are primordial and indicative of their origin in a locally homogeneous, globally heterogeneous protoplanetary disk.

arXiv comment28 pages, 4 figure, 4 tables. accepted to Icarus

References in corpus (30)

• The Photometric Performance and Calibration of the HST Advanced Camera For Surveys
• WFPC2 Stellar Photometry with HSTphot
• Origin of the Structure of the Kuiper Belt during a Dynamical Instability in the Orbits of Uranus and Neptune
• The Evolution of the Water Distribution in a Viscous Protoplanetary Disk
• The Charge Transfer Efficiency and Calibration of WFPC2
• Formation of Kuiper Belt Binaries
• Colors and Spectra of Kuiper Belt Objects
• A Correlation Between Inclination and Color in the Classical Kuiper Belt
• Time-Resolved Photometry of Kuiper Belt Objects: Rotations, Shapes and Phase Functions
• Evidence for Two Populations of Classical Transneptunian Objects: The Strong Inclination Dependence of Classical Binaries
• The Color Distribution in the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt
• High Albedos of Low Inclination Classical Kuiper Belt Objects
• The Diverse Solar Phase Curves of Distant Icy Bodies. Part I: Photometric Observations of 18 Trans-Neptunian Objects, 7 Centaurs, and Nereid
• Collision rates in the present-day Kuiper Belt and Centaur Regions: Applications to surface activation and modification on Comets, Kuiper Belt Objects, Centaurs, and Pluto-Charon
• Diverse Albedos of Small Trans-Neptunian Objects
• The orbit, mass, size, albedo, and density of (65489) Ceto/Phorcys: A tidally-evolved binary Centaur
• (42355) Typhon-Echidna: Scheduling Observations for Binary Orbit Determination
• Mutual Orbits and Masses of Six Transneptunian Binaries
• Models of the Collisional Damping Scenario for Ice Giant Planets and Kuiper Belt Formatio
• Is the Missing Ultra-Red Material Colorless Ice?
• Formation of Kuiper Belt Binaries
• The Albedo, Size, and Density of Binary Kuiper Belt Object (47171) 1999 TC36
• Ejecta Exchange, Color Evolution in the Pluto System, and Implications for KBOs and Asteroids with Satellites
• Detection of Two Binary Trans-Neptunian Objects, 1997 CQ29 and 2000 CF105, with the Hubble Space Telescope
• The Orbit, Mass, and Albedo of Transneptunian Binary 1999 RZ253
• The Orbit and Albedo of Transneptunian Binary 1997 CQ29
• Analysis of the rotational properties of Kuiper belt objects
• Implications Regarding the Energetics Of the Collisional Formation of Kuiper Belt Satellites
• Visible-IR Colors and Lightcurve Analysis of Two Bright TNOs: 1999 TC36 and 1998 SN165
• Dust Measurements in the Outer Solar System

Cited by in corpus (62)

• Formation of Kuiper Belt Binaries by Gravitational Collapse
• "TNOs are Cool": A survey of the trans-Neptunian region X. Analysis of classical Kuiper belt objects from Herschel and Spitzer observations
• On the Formation of Planetesimals via Secular Gravitational Instabilities with Turbulent Stirring
• Initial results from the New Horizons exploration of 2014 MU69, a small Kuiper Belt Object
• The Compositions of Kuiper Belt Objects
• Orbits and Masses of the Satellites of the Dwarf Planet Haumea = 2003 EL61
• The Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 Test of Surfaces in the Outer Solar System: The Compositional Classes of the Kuiper Belt
• The solar nebula origin of (486958) Arrokoth, a primordial contact binary in the Kuiper belt
• Formation of pebble-pile planetesimals
• "TNOs are Cool": A Survey of the Transneptunian Region IV. Size/albedo characterization of 15 scattered disk and detached objects observed with Herschel Space Observatory-PACS
• "TNOs are Cool": A survey of the trans-Neptunian region VI. Herschel/PACS observations and thermal modeling of 19 classical Kuiper belt objects
• TNOs are Cool: A survey of the trans-Neptunian region. VIII. Combined Herschel PACS and SPIRE observations of 9 bright targets at 70--500 micron
• Kuiper belt: formation and evolution
• A hypothesis for the color diversity of the Kuiper belt
• Five New and Three Improved Mutual Orbits of Transneptunian Binaries
• Color, Composition, and Thermal Environment of Kuiper Belt Object (486958) Arrokoth
• Colours of minor bodies in the outer solar system - II: A statistical analysis revisited
• Characterization of Seven Ultra-Wide Trans-Neptunian Binaries
• An Automatic Method for Extreme-Ultraviolet Dimmings Associated with Small-Scale Eruption
• TNOs are Cool: A survey of the trans-Neptunian region V. Physical characterization of 18 Plutinos using Herschel PACS observations
• All planetesimals born near the Kuiper Belt formed as binaries
• Reanalyzing the visible colors of Centaurs and KBOs: what is there and what we might be missing
• A Tale of Planet Formation: From Dust to Planets
• The Color Differences of Kuiper Belt Objects in Resonance with Neptune
• Circumbinary Chaos: Using Pluto's Newest Moon to Constrain the Masses of Nix & Hydra
• The size, density, and formation of the Orcus-Vanth system in the Kuiper belt
• Orbital properties of binary minor planets
• Mutual Orbits and Masses of Six Transneptunian Binaries
• Interpreting the Densities of the Kuiper Belt's Dwarf Planets
• (47171) 1999 TC36, A Transneptunian Triple
• Is the Missing Ultra-Red Material Colorless Ice?
• The Mutual Orbit, Mass, and Density of the Large Transneptunian Binary System Varda and Ilmarë
• From Disks to Planets
• Trans-Neptunian binaries (2018)
• Optical and Infrared Colors of Transneptunian Objects Observed with HST
• The density of mid-sized Kuiper belt objects from ALMA thermal observations
• The mass and density of the dwarf planet (225088) 2007 OR10
• Col-OSSOS: Color and Inclination are Correlated Throughout the Kuiper Belt
• Mutual Events in the Cold Classical Transneptunian Binary System Sila and Nunam
• A Change in the Lightcurve of Kuiper Belt Contact Binary (139775) 2001 QG298
• Lightcurves and Rotational Properties of the Pristine Cold Classical Kuiper Belt Objects
• The role of pebble fragmentation in planetesimal formation II. Numerical simulations
• 2007 TY430: A Cold Classical Kuiper Belt Type Binary in the Plutino Population
• Investigating Gravitational Collapse of a Pebble Cloud to form Transneptunian Binaries
• Radially resolved simulations of collapsing pebble clouds in protoplanetary discs
• The HST Lightcurve of (486958) 2014 MU69
• Evolution of MU69 from a binary planetesimal into contact by Kozai-Lidov oscillations and nebular drag
• The Color and Binarity of (486958) 2014 MU69 and Other Long-Range New Horizons Kuiper Belt Targets
• A possible dynamically Cold Classical contact binary: (126719) 2002 CC249
• Constraining the final merger of contact binary(486958) Arrokoth with soft-sphere discrete element simulations
• A spectral comparison of (379) Huenna and its satellite
• The angular momentum of two collided rarefied preplanetesimals and the formation of binaries
• The Orbit of Transneptunian Binary Manwë and Thorondor and their Upcoming Mutual Events
• Multiband photometry of a Patroclus-Menoetius mutual event: Constraints on surface heterogeneity
• Prograde spin-up during gravitational collapse
• Angular momenta of collided rarefied preplanetesimals
• Forming equal mass planetary binaries via pebble accretion
• On a Possible Size/Color Relationship in the Kuiper Belt
• Considering contact forces during the formation of planetesimals by gravitational collapse: mutual orbits, spin states, and shapes
• Physical Characterization of TNOs with JWST
• The Luminosity Function of Ultra-Faint Trans-Neptunian Objects Detected by JWST
• The Surfaces of Small to Mid-Size Plutinos: Evidence of an Association Between Inclination and Surface Type