Water Ice on the Satellite of Kuiper Belt Object 2003 EL61

Abstract

We have obtained a near infrared spectrum of the brightest satellite of the large Kuiper Belt Object, 2003 EL61. The spectrum has absorption features at 1.5 and 2.0 microns, indicating that water ice is present on the surface. We find that the satellite's absorption lines are much deeper than water ice features typically found on Kuiper Belt Objects. We argue that the unusual spectrum indicates that the satellite was likely formed by impact and not by capture.

References in corpus (4)

• Formation of Kuiper Belt Binaries
• Photometric Observations Constraining the Size, Shape, and Albedo of 2003 El61, a Rapidly Rotating, Pluto-Sized Object in the Kuiper Belt
• Satellites of the largest Kuiper belt objects
• Detection of Six Transneptunian Binaries with NICMOS: A High Fraction of Binaries in the Cold Classical Disk

Cited by in corpus (34)

• "TNOs are Cool": A survey of the trans-Neptunian region X. Analysis of classical Kuiper belt objects from Herschel and Spitzer observations
• Orbits and Masses of the Satellites of the Dwarf Planet Haumea = 2003 EL61
• The Compositions of Kuiper Belt Objects
• An Outer Planet Beyond Pluto and Origin of the Trans-Neptunian Belt Architecture
• Candidate Members and Age Estimate of the Family of Kuiper Belt Object 2003 EL61
• Detection of Additional Members of the 2003 EL61 Family via Infrared Spectroscopy
• Water ice in the Kuiper belt
• Characterisation of candidate members of (136108) Haumea's family
• The size, density, and formation of the Orcus-Vanth system in the Kuiper belt
• "TNOs are Cool": A survey of the trans-Neptunian region -- VII. Size and surface characteristics of (90377) Sedna and 2010 EK139
• Optical Spectroscopy of the Large Kuiper Belt Objects 136472 (2005 FY9) and 136108 (2003 EL61)
• The Creation of Haumea's Collisional Family
• The Mass, Orbit, and Tidal Evolution of the Quaoar-Weywot System
• Quaoar: A Rock in the Kuiper belt
• The size and shape of the oblong dwarf planet Haumea
• Medium-sized satellites of large Kuiper belt objects
• High-contrast observations of 136108 Haumea. A crystalline water-ice multiple system
• "TNOs are Cool": A survey of the trans-Neptunian region XIV. Size/albedo characterization of the Haumea family observed with Herschel and Spitzer
• NICMOS Photometry of the Unusual Dwarf Planet Haumea and its Satellites
• The water ice rich surface of (145453) 2005 RR43: a case for a carbon-depleted population of TNOs?
• The dynamical evolution of dwarf planet (136108) Haumea's collisional family: General properties and implications for the trans-Neptunian belt
• Time-Resolved Near-Infrared Photometry of Extreme Kuiper Belt Object Haumea
• The effect of orbital evolution on the Haumea (2003 EL61) collisional family
• On the Dynamics and Origin of Haumea's Moons
• Debris Disk Color with the Hubble Space Telescope
• The Unusual Kuiper Belt Object 2003 SQ317
• Haumea's thermal emission revisited in the light of the occultation results
• Measuring temperature and ammonia hydrate ice on Charon in 2015 from Keck/OSIRIS spectra
• Near-infrared spatially resolved spectroscopy of (136108) Haumea's multiple system
• Photometric Measurements of H2O Ice Crystallinity on Trans-Neptunian Objects
• Are NH${}_3$ and CO${}_2$ ice present on Miranda?
• Studying the Equilibrium Points of the Modified Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem: the Case of Sun-Haumea System
• A study of centaur (54598) Bienor from multiple stellar occultations and rotational light curves
• Trans-Neptunian Space and the Post-Pluto Paradigm