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The solar nebula origin of (486958) Arrokoth, a primordial contact binary in the Kuiper Belt.
McKinnon, W B; Richardson, D C; Marohnic, J C; Keane, J T; Grundy, W M; Hamilton, D P; Nesvorný, D; Umurhan, O M; Lauer, T R; Singer, K N; Stern, S A; Weaver, H A; Spencer, J R; Buie, M W; Moore, J M; Kavelaars, J J; Lisse, C M; Mao, X; Parker, A H; Porter, S B; Showalter, M R; Olkin, C B; Cruikshank, D P; Elliott, H A; Gladstone, G R; Parker, J Wm; Verbiscer, A J; Young, L A.
Affiliation
  • McKinnon WB; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. mckinnon@wustl.edu.
  • Richardson DC; Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
  • Marohnic JC; Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
  • Keane JT; Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
  • Grundy WM; Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.
  • Hamilton DP; Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA.
  • Nesvorný D; Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
  • Umurhan OM; Division of Space Science and Engineering, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
  • Lauer TR; NASA Ames Research Center, Space Science Division, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
  • Singer KN; SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
  • Stern SA; National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, National Science Foundation, Tucson, AZ 85726, USA.
  • Weaver HA; Division of Space Science and Engineering, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
  • Spencer JR; Division of Space Science and Engineering, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
  • Buie MW; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA.
  • Moore JM; National Research Council of Canada, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada.
  • Kavelaars JJ; Division of Space Science and Engineering, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
  • Lisse CM; NASA Ames Research Center, Space Science Division, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
  • Mao X; National Research Council of Canada, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada.
  • Parker AH; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA.
  • Porter SB; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
  • Showalter MR; Division of Space Science and Engineering, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
  • Olkin CB; Division of Space Science and Engineering, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
  • Cruikshank DP; SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
  • Elliott HA; Division of Space Science and Engineering, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
  • Gladstone GR; NASA Ames Research Center, Space Science Division, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
  • Parker JW; Division of Space Science and Engineering, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA.
  • Verbiscer AJ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA.
  • Young LA; Division of Space Science and Engineering, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA.
Science ; 367(6481)2020 02 28.
Article in En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32054695
ABSTRACT
The New Horizons spacecraft's encounter with the cold classical Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth (provisional designation 2014 MU69) revealed a contact-binary planetesimal. We investigated how Arrokoth formed and found that it is the product of a gentle, low-speed merger in the early Solar System. Its two lenticular lobes suggest low-velocity accumulation of numerous smaller planetesimals within a gravitationally collapsing cloud of solid particles. The geometric alignment of the lobes indicates that they were a co-orbiting binary that experienced angular momentum loss and subsequent merger, possibly because of dynamical friction and collisions within the cloud or later gas drag. Arrokoth's contact-binary shape was preserved by the benign dynamical and collisional environment of the cold classical Kuiper Belt and therefore informs the accretion processes that operated in the early Solar System.
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Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Language: En Journal: Science Year: 2020 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Estados Unidos
Fulltext
Add to My VHL
Print
XML
PubMed Links
Search on Google

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Language: En Journal: Science Year: 2020 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Estados Unidos