Trans-Neptunian Space and the Post-Pluto Paradigm

Abstract

The Pluto system is an archetype for the multitude of icy dwarf planets and accompanying satellite systems that populate the vast volume of the solar system beyond Neptune. New Horizons' exploration of Pluto and its five moons gave us a glimpse into the range of properties that their kin may host. Furthermore, the surfaces of Pluto and Charon record eons of bombardment by small trans-Neptunian objects, and by treating them as witness plates we can infer a few key properties of the trans-Neptunian population at sizes far below current direct-detection limits. This chapter summarizes what we have learned from the Pluto system about the origins and properties of the trans-Neptunian populations, the processes that have acted upon those members over the age of the solar system, and the processes likely to remain active today. Included in this summary is an inference of the properties of the size distribution of small trans-Neptunian objects and estimates on the fraction of binary systems present at small sizes. Further, this chapter compares the extant properties of the satellites of trans-Neptunian dwarf planets and their implications for the processes of satellite formation and the early evolution of planetesimals in the outer solar system. Finally, this chapter concludes with a discussion of near-term theoretical, observational, and laboratory efforts that can further ground our understanding of the Pluto system and how its properties can guide future exploration of trans-Neptunian space.

arXiv commentReview chapter in "The Pluto System After New Horizons" University of Arizona Press, 2021. https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/the-pluto-system-after-new-horizons

References in corpus (52)

• Origin of the Structure of the Kuiper Belt during a Dynamical Instability in the Orbits of Uranus and Neptune
• Evidence for a Distant Giant Planet in the Solar System
• Orbital Evolution of Planets Embedded in a Planetesimal Disk
• Surface Compositions Across Pluto and Charon
• The Canada-France Ecliptic Plane Survey - Full Data Release: The orbital structure of the Kuiper belt
• The Geology of Pluto and Charon Through the Eyes of New Horizons
• Formation of Kuiper Belt Binaries by Gravitational Collapse
• The Size Distributions of Asteroid Families in the SDSS Moving Object Catalog 4
• Scenarios for the Origin of the Orbits of the Trans-Neptunian Objects 2000 CR105 and 2003 VB12
• A Correlation Between Inclination and Color in the Classical Kuiper Belt
• Towards Initial Mass Functions for Asteroids and Kuiper Belt Objects
• The Resonant Transneptunian Populations
• OSSOS. VII. 800+ trans-Neptunian objects - the complete data release
• On the Size-Dependence of the Inclination Distribution of the Main Kuiper Belt
• Pencil-Beam Surveys for Faint Trans-Neptunian Objects
• Convection in a volatile nitrogen-ice-rich layer drives Pluto's geological vigor
• The Formation of the Collisional Family around the Dwarf Planet Haumea
• A single sub-km Kuiper Belt object from a stellar Occultation in archival data
• A Subaru Pencil-beam Search for m_R~27 Trans-neptunian bodies
• The Small Satellites of Pluto as Observed by New Horizons
• De-biased Populations of Kuiper Belt Objects from the Deep Ecliptic Survey
• OSSOS VI. Striking Biases in the detection of large semimajor axis Trans-Neptunian Objects
• cosmoabc: Likelihood-free inference via Population Monte Carlo Approximate Bayesian Computation
• The Luminosity Function of the Hot and Cold Kuiper belt Populations
• Improving the Accuracy of Planet Occurrence Rates from Kepler using Approximate Bayesian Computation
• The nitrogen cycles on Pluto over seasonal and astronomical timescales
• How Sedna and family were captured in a close encounter with a solar sibling
• OSSOS III - Resonant Trans-Neptunian Populations: Constraints from the first quarter of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey
• Unbiased Inclination Distributions for Objects in the Kuiper Belt
• Amateur telescopes discover a kilometre-sized Kuiper belt object from stellar occultation
• Recent Tectonic Activity on Pluto Driven by Phase Changes in the Ice Shell
• Water Ice on the Satellite of Kuiper Belt Object 2003 EL61
• Binary Survival in the Outer Solar System
• The CFEPS Kuiper Belt Survey: Strategy and Pre-survey Results
• Approximate Bayesian Computation in Large Scale Structure: constraining the galaxy-halo connection
• KCTF Evolution of Trans-Neptunian Binaries: Connecting Formation to Observation
• Study of the plutino object (208996) 2003 AZ84 from stellar occultations: size, shape and topographic features
• Modeling glacial flow on and onto Pluto's Sputnik Planitia
• The CH4 cycles on Pluto over seasonal and astronomical timescales
• Collisional Evolution of Ultra-Wide Trans-Neptunian Binaries
• Discovery of a Makemakean Moon
• The Intrinsic Neptune Trojan Orbit Distribution: Implications for the Primordial Disk and Planet Migration
• Medium-sized satellites of large Kuiper belt objects
• The mass and density of the dwarf planet (225088) 2007 OR10
• Haumea's Shape and Composition
• A 1-D evolutionary model for icy satellites, applied to Enceladus
• Ongoing Resurfacing of KBO Eris by Volatile Transport in Local, Collisional, Sublimation Atmosphere Regime
• The Contraction/Expansion History of Charon with implication for its Planetary Scale Tectonic Belt
• The Color and Binarity of (486958) 2014 MU69 and Other Long-Range New Horizons Kuiper Belt Targets
• A Search for Temporal Changes on Pluto and Charon
• Procedures, Resources, and Selected Results of the Deep Ecliptic Survey
• A Dearth of Small Members in the Haumea Family Revealed by the OSSOS Survey