Cratering rate on Pluto produced by the inner trans-Neptunian population

Aims. The aim of this work is to obtain the cratering rate on Pluto and to estimate the size distribution of the population in the inner trans-Neptunian region. Methods. We find the intrinsic collisional probability and the mean collision velocity for the interaction between Pluto and the projectile...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Calandra, María Florencia, Gil-Hutton, Ricardo
Formato: Articulo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/87357
Aporte de:
id I19-R120-10915-87357
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Ciencias Astronómicas
Kuiper belt: General
Methods: Numerical
Planets and satellites: General
spellingShingle Ciencias Astronómicas
Kuiper belt: General
Methods: Numerical
Planets and satellites: General
Calandra, María Florencia
Gil-Hutton, Ricardo
Cratering rate on Pluto produced by the inner trans-Neptunian population
topic_facet Ciencias Astronómicas
Kuiper belt: General
Methods: Numerical
Planets and satellites: General
description Aims. The aim of this work is to obtain the cratering rate on Pluto and to estimate the size distribution of the population in the inner trans-Neptunian region. Methods. We find the intrinsic collisional probability and the mean collision velocity for the interaction between Pluto and the projectile population crossing its orbit, using the L7 Synthetic Model from the CFEPS Project. The size distribution of this population is found using the smallest satellite of Pluto, Styx, as a constraint, because it survives the collisional process for the solar system age. Results. We find that the mean intrinsic collisional probability and mean collision velocity between Pluto and the projectile population are (Pi) = 1.3098 × 10-22 km-2 yr-1 and (Vcol) = 2.005 ± 0.822 km s-1. If the projectile sample is separated between Plutinos and non-Plutinos and the intrinsic collisional probability of these sub-populations are taken into account, we find a ratio of approximately 20:1 in favor of non-Plutinos resulting in the greatest contribution to the cratering rate on Pluto. The projectile population for the inner trans-Neptunian belt is characterized using a double power-law mean-size distribution with exponents qA = 3.5 and qB = 5.14 for the small and large size end of the population, respectively, and break radius at rb = 11.86 km or 7.25 km for mean densities of the projectiles ρ1 = 1.85 g cm-3 and ρ2 = 1 g cm-3. With this mean-size distribution we find that an object with radius of ~28 km produces a crater in Pluto with a diameter of ~250 km in a time larger than the solar system age, indicating that this kind of large structure has a very low probability of occurrence.
format Articulo
Articulo
author Calandra, María Florencia
Gil-Hutton, Ricardo
author_facet Calandra, María Florencia
Gil-Hutton, Ricardo
author_sort Calandra, María Florencia
title Cratering rate on Pluto produced by the inner trans-Neptunian population
title_short Cratering rate on Pluto produced by the inner trans-Neptunian population
title_full Cratering rate on Pluto produced by the inner trans-Neptunian population
title_fullStr Cratering rate on Pluto produced by the inner trans-Neptunian population
title_full_unstemmed Cratering rate on Pluto produced by the inner trans-Neptunian population
title_sort cratering rate on pluto produced by the inner trans-neptunian population
publishDate 2017
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/87357
work_keys_str_mv AT calandramariaflorencia crateringrateonplutoproducedbytheinnertransneptunianpopulation
AT gilhuttonricardo crateringrateonplutoproducedbytheinnertransneptunianpopulation
bdutipo_str Repositorios
_version_ 1764820489903013888