Orientation of the spin axes of large Kuiper belt bodies as an indicator of the mechanism of their origin

Abstract

The paper analyses the orientation of the spin axes of Kuiper Belt (KB) bodies that have satellites. For most of these bodies, the axes orientations were estimated under the assumption that the orbital planes of the satellites lie close to the bodies' equatorial planes. It was found that the spin axes of large scattered disks and plutinos' bodies, including four dwarf planets, are inclined at relatively small angles to the planes of their heliocentric orbits. This feature points to a possibility that all the scattered disk bodies, together with the bodies in the 3:2 resonance with Neptune, originated from the disruption of a single large body. The origin of the bodies of the so-called cold component of the KB is believed to differ from that of the scattered disk. The orientation of the spin axes of these bodies may also provide further evidence supporting this distinction.

Size, atmospheric, and ring constraints on the large Kuiper belt object (55565) Aya from a stellar occultation
K. Arimatsu, H. Hanayama, S. Takita +3
Astronomy & Astrophysics30 Oct 2026Peer-reviewedPublisher termsSolar & stellar physicsCrossref
JWST Reveals the Kuiper Belt-like Compositions of the Uranian Rings and Small Moons
Matthew Belyakov, M. Ryleigh Davis, Zachariah Milby +2
arXiv25 Sep 2026PreprintCC BY 4.0Full textPlanetary science & exoplanetsarXiv
JWST Reveals the Kuiper Belt–like Compositions of the Uranian Rings and Small Moons
Matthew Belyakov, M. Ryleigh Davis, Zachariah Milby +2
The Astrophysical Journal Letters9 Oct 2026Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textPlanetary science & exoplanetsCrossref
(α,β)-Ricci-Yamabe Solitons with Potential Kuiper-Nash Vector Field
Shahroud azami, Mehdi Jafari, Mosayeb Zohrehvand
Mathematics Interdisciplinary Research30 Oct 2026Peer-reviewedCC BYFull textGeneral astronomyDOAJ
Closing the Gap: A Test of the Streaming Instability Using Simulations and Observations of the Cold-Classical Kuiper Belt Size Distribution
Weston Hall, Jacob B. Simon, Jeonghoon Lim +2
arXiv2 Oct 2026PreprintCC BY 4.0Full textPlanetary science & exoplanetsarXiv

Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{kazantsev2026orientation,
  title = {{Orientation of the spin axes of large Kuiper belt bodies as an indicator of the mechanism of their origin}},
  author = {A. M. Kazantsev},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.06232},
  eprint = {2611.06232},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.06232},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Orientation of the spin axes of large Kuiper belt bodies as an indicator of the mechanism of their origin
AU  - A. M. Kazantsev
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/04
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.06232
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.06232
AB  - The paper analyses the orientation of the spin axes of Kuiper Belt (KB) bodies that have satellites. For most of these bodies, the axes orientations were estimated under the assumption that the orbital planes of the satellites lie close to the bodies' equatorial planes. It was found that the spin axes of large scattered disks and plutinos' bodies, including four dwarf planets, are inclined at relatively small angles to the planes of their heliocentric orbits. This feature points to a possibility that all the scattered disk bodies, together with the bodies in the 3:2 resonance with Neptune, originated from the disruption of a single large body. The origin of the bodies of the so-called cold component of the KB is believed to differ from that of the scattered disk. The orientation of the spin axes of these bodies may also provide further evidence supporting this distinction.
ER  -

Abstract

Related

Cite