Volatile evolution and atmospheres of Trans-Neptunian Objects

Abstract

At 30-50 K, the temperatures typical for surfaces in the Kuiper Belt (e.g. Stern & Trafton 2008), only seven species have sublimation pressures higher than 1 nbar (Fray & Schmitt 2009): Ne, N${}_2$, CO, Ar, O${}_2$, CH${}_4$, and Kr. Of these, N${}_2$, CO, and CH${}_4$ have been detected or inferred on the surfaces of Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs). The presence of tenuous atmospheres above these volatile ices depends on the sublimation pressures, which are very sensitive to the composition, temperatures, and mixing states of the volatile ices. Therefore, the retention of volatiles on a TNO is related to its formation environment and thermal history. The surface volatiles may be transported via seasonally varying atmospheres and their condensation might be responsible for the high surface albedos of some of these bodies. The most sensitive searches for tenuous atmospheres are made by the method of stellar occultation, which have been vital for the study of the atmospheres of Triton and Pluto, and has to-date placed upper limits on the atmospheres of 11 other bodies. The recent release of the Gaia astrometric catalog has led to a "golden age" in the ability to predict TNO occultations in order to increase the observational data base.

References in corpus (46)

• A ring system detected around the Centaur (10199) Chariklo
• The Geology of Pluto and Charon Through the Eyes of New Horizons
• The size, shape, density and ring of the dwarf planet Haumea from a stellar occultation
• Discovery of a planetary-sized object in the scattered Kuiper belt
• The Compositions of Kuiper Belt Objects
• Detection of CO and HCN in Pluto's atmosphere with ALMA
• Pluto's global surface composition through pixel-by-pixel Hapke modeling of New Horizons Ralph/LEISA data
• Structure and Composition of Pluto's atmosphere from the New Horizons Solar Ultraviolet Occultation
• Thermally-driven atmospheric escape: Transition from hydrodynamic to Jeans escape
• Pluto's Seasons: New Predictions for New Horizons
• Detection of CO in Triton's atmosphere and the nature of surface-atmosphere interactions
• Near-Infrared Spectral Monitoring of Triton with IRTF/SpeX II: Spatial Distribution and Evolution of Ices
• Pluto's atmosphere from the 29 June 2015 ground-based stellar occultation at the time of the New Horizons flyby
• Eclipsing Binary Trojan Asteroid Patroclus: Thermal Inertia from Spitzer Observations
• Detection of methane on Kuiper Belt Object (50000) Quaoar
• The nitrogen cycles on Pluto over seasonal and astronomical timescales
• Pluto's atmosphere from stellar occultations in 2012 and 2013
• Visible spectroscopy of 2003 UB313: Evidence for N2 ice on the surface of the largest TNO?
• Thermally driven escape from Pluto's atmosphere: A combined fluid/kinetic model
• The rate of thermal atmospheric escape
• Methane, ammonia, and their irradiation products at the surface of an intermediate-size KBO? A portrait of Plutino (90482) Orcus
• Near Infrared Surface Properties of the Two Intrinsically Brightest Minor Planets (90377) Sedna and (90482) Orcus
• Optical Spectroscopy of the Large Kuiper Belt Objects 136472 (2005 FY9) and 136108 (2003 EL61)
• Study of the plutino object (208996) 2003 AZ84 from stellar occultations: size, shape and topographic features
• Hybrid fluid/kinetic modeling of Pluto's escaping atmosphere
• The surface composition of large Kuiper belt object 2007 OR10
• Molecular-Kinetic Simulations of Escape from the Ex-planet and Exoplanets: Criterion for Transonic Flow
• Pluto's lower atmosphere and pressure evolution from ground-based stellar occultations, 1988-2016
• On the surface composition of Triton's southern latitudes
• Evidence of N2-Ice On the Surface of the Icy Dwarf Planet 136472 (2005 FY9)
• New Horizons Constraints on Charon's Present Day Atmosphere
• Integral-field spectroscopy of (90482) Orcus-Vanth
• Ice Mineralogy Across and Into the Surfaces of Pluto, Triton, and Eris
• Large size and slow rotation of the trans-Neptunian object (225088) 2007 OR10 discovered from Herschel and K2 observations
• Results from the 2014 November 15th multi-chord stellar occultation by the TNO (229762) 2007 UK${}_{126}$
• Volatile Loss and Classification of Kuiper Belt Objects
• A Photometric System for Detection of Water and Methane Ices on Kuiper Belt Objects
• Volatile transport on inhomogeneous surfaces: I. Analytic expressions, with application to Pluto's day
• Absorption Coefficients of the Methane-Nitrogen Binary Ice System: Implications for Pluto
• Primordial N2 provides a cosmochemical explanation for the existence of Sputnik Planitia, Pluto
• Rotationally resolved spectroscopy of dwarf planet (136472) Makemake
• Ongoing Resurfacing of KBO Eris by Volatile Transport in Local, Collisional, Sublimation Atmosphere Regime
• Digging Into the Surface of the Icy Dwarf Planet Eris
• JWST observations of stellar occultations by solar system bodies and rings
• The future of stellar occultations by distant solar system bodies: perspectives from the Gaia astrometry and the deep sky surveys
• Rotationally resolved spectroscopy of (20000) Varuna in the near-infrared

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Stellar occultations by Trans-Neptunian Objects
• The Dwarf Planet Makemake as seen by X-Shooter
• The first detection of an atmosphere on a trans-Neptunian object beyond Pluto
• Pluto's atmosphere observations with ALMA: spatially-resolved maps of CO and HCN emission and first detection of HNC
• Constraints on the Atmospheric Composition of 2002 XV${}_{93}$ from JWST Spectroscopy