Saturday, May 27, 2023

Kuiper II?

We have a Kuiper Belt of which the first two bodies discovered were Triton (taken by Neptune) and then Pluto (in 2:3 resonance with Neptune). Then "Xena" was found, now Eris; queen of the Belt proper. Our post-Y2k instruments have the circular-orbiting main Belt objects trailing off toward the higher 40s AU.

Some thought was given that there may be a second Kuiper to account for those wacky iceballs like Sedna (in lieu of Planet Nine, which seems not found).

I've worried that we might used to have had these massive masses way out there but that, by the time we get Oort, other stars start interfering.

Anyway Keith Cowing has noted that, after Kuiper trails off, which is about where New Horizons is now at... we've been finding more stuff. But still not much between semimajors 50-60 AU; these objects orbit at 60+ AU. If the clustering holds up, that might be a second Belt. But not the massive second belt as might have perturbed Sedna.

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