The large mound structures that dominate one of the lobes of the Kuiper belt item Arrokoth are comparable enough to suggest a typical origin, according to a new research study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Planetary Scientist and Associate Vice President Dr. Alan Stern. Credit: Southwest Research Institute
These “Building obstructs” of this Kuiper belt object may point to essential information of streaming instability model of planetesimal formation.
A new study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Planetary Scientist and Associate Vice President Dr. Alan Stern posits that the big, approximately 5-kilometer-long mounds that control the look of the larger lobe of the beautiful Kuiper Belt item Arrokoth are similar enough to recommend a typical origin. Stern presented these findings this week at the American Astronomical Societys 55th Annual Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting in San Antonio.
NASAs Observations and Analysis
In 2019, NASAs New Horizons spacecraft made a close flyby of Arrokoth. From those data, Stern and his coauthors recognized 12 mounds on Arrokoths bigger lobe, Wenu, which are almost the same shape, size, color, and reflectivity. They likewise tentatively determined 3 more mounds on the objects smaller sized lobe, Weeyo.
” Its incredible to see this item so well protected that its shape straight exposes these details of its assembly from a set of building blocks all extremely comparable to one another,” said Lowell Observatorys Dr. Will Grundy, co-investigator of the New Horizons mission. “Arrokoth practically looks like a raspberry, made of little sub-units.”
Observations of the Kuiper Belt things Arrokoth recommend it formed from an assembly of likewise sized items, combined at low speeds in a city undergoing gravitational collapse. These findings support the streaming instability design of planetesimal development and are explained in a brand-new research study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Planetary Scientist and Associate Vice President Dr. Alan Stern. Credit: New Horizons/NASA/JHUAPL/ SwRI/James Tuttle Keane
The Streaming Instability Model
Arrokoths geology supports the streaming instability model of planetesimal development where accident speeds of just a few miles per hour permit challenge gently collect to develop Arrokoth in a city of the solar nebula undergoing gravitational collapse.
” Similarities consisting of in sizes and other properties of Arrokoths mound structures recommend new insights into its formation,” Stern, the Principal Investigator of the New Horizons mission, stated. “If the mounds are indeed representative of the foundation of ancient planetesimals like Arrokoth, then planetesimal development designs will require to explain the preferred size for these foundation.”
There is a likelihood that a few of the flyby targets for NASAs Lucy mission to Jupiters Trojan asteroids and ESAs comet interceptor will be other pristine planetesimals, which could contribute to the understanding of accretion of planetesimals elsewhere in the ancient solar system and whether they vary from processes New Horizons found in the Kuiper Belt.
” It will be necessary to search for mound-like structures on the planetesimals these objectives observe to see how typical this phenomenon is, as a further guide to planetesimal development theories,” Stern said.
Reference: “The Properties and Origin of Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoths Large Mounds” by S. A. Stern, O. L. White, W. M. Grundy, B. A. Keeney, J. D. Hofgartner, D. Nesvorný, W. B. McKinnon, D. C. Richardson, J. C. Marohnic, A. J. Verbiscer, S. D. Benecchi, P. M. Schenk and J. M. Moore, 26 September 2023, The Planetary Science Journal.DOI: 10.3847/ PSJ/acf317.
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, designed, developed and runs the New Horizons spacecraft, and handles the objective for NASAs Science Mission Directorate. Southwest Research Institute, based in San Antonio, directs the mission through Principal Investigator Stern, who leads the science team, payload operations and encounter science preparation. New Horizons becomes part of the New Frontiers Program managed by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
A brand-new research study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Planetary Scientist and Associate Vice President Dr. Alan Stern posits that the big, around 5-kilometer-long mounds that dominate the appearance of the larger lobe of the beautiful Kuiper Belt item Arrokoth are comparable adequate to recommend a typical origin. In 2019, NASAs New Horizons spacecraft made a close flyby of Arrokoth. These findings support the streaming instability design of planetesimal development and are described in a brand-new study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Planetary Scientist and Associate Vice President Dr. Alan Stern. New Horizons is part of the New Frontiers Program handled by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.