Origin and orbital distribution of the trans-Neptunian scattered disc
Open accessAbstract
We revisit the scenario proposed by Duncan and Levison in the late 1990s on the origin of the trans-Neptunian scattered disc. According to this scenario, the current scattered disc population is the remnant of a much more massive population that formed at the beginning of the Solar system, presumably when Neptune grew in mass. In order to compute the expected orbital distribution of the scattered disc bodies in the framework of this model, we have integrated the evolution of several thousands of test particles over the age of the Solar system, and looked at the orbital distribution of those surviving after more than 2 × 109 yr from their first scattering event. In order to compare this model distribution with the observed distribution, we have modelled the observational biases by generalizing a method originally introduced recently by Trujillo and Brown. Once the biases are taken into account, the model distribution matches the observed distribution fairly well. The most significant discrepancy is that the observed perihelion distance distribution is somewhat skewed towards larger perihelion distances than our model predicts. This is possibly due to the effects of planet migration (which tends to raise perihelion distances as recently shown by Gomes), which is not taken into account in our simulations.
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Objects with different q and a spend different fractions of their orbital period in the vicinity of 30 au, and this geometric correction can be applied by weighting the distribution accordingly.
“To advance beyond this estimate, one important correction must be made: objects with different q and a spend different fractions of their orbital period in the vicinity of 30 au.It is, however, straightforward to apply this geometric correction and weight the distribution accordingly (Brown 2001;Morbidelli et al. 2004).”
From Generation of Low-inclination, Neptune-crossing Trans-Neptunian Objects by Planet Nine (2024) · cites this paper as Morbidelli et al. 2004
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Cites
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Self-citationEvidence for an Extended Scattered Disk
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“Among the SD population, we have considered all objects with a > 50 au and multi-opposition orbits, with the exception of those with q < 25 au (we stopped the simulations when q = 20 au, so that the model is artificially deficient of low-q objects) and of both 2000 CR105 and 2003 VB12 (which are evidently not part of…”
BackgroundInfluentialResonance Occupation in the Kuiper Belt: Case Examples of the 52 and Trojan Resonances
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A new dynamical class of object in the outer Solar System
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Self-citationA new class of trans-Neptunian objects in high-eccentricity orbits
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Research works printed but not linked: 3
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THE CANADA-FRANCE ECLIPTIC PLANE SURVEY—FULL DATA RELEASE: THE ORBITAL STRUCTURE OF THE KUIPER BELT
Petit, J.-M., Kavelaars, J. J., Gladman, B. J., Jones, R. L., Parker, J. W., Van Laerhoven, C., Nicholson, P., Mars, G., Rousselot, P., Mousis, O., et al. (2011) · The Astronomical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-6256/142/4/131 · Cited by 289 · see citing works
OBSERVATIONAL SIGNATURES OF A MASSIVE DISTANT PLANET ON THE SCATTERING DISK
Lawler, S. M., Shankman, C., Kaib, N., Bannister, M. T., Gladman, B., & Kavelaars, J. J. (2017) · The Astronomical Journal · doi:10.3847/1538-3881/153/1/33 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Generation of Low-inclination, Neptune-crossing Trans-Neptunian Objects by Planet Nine
Batygin, K., Morbidelli, A., Brown, M. E., & Nesvorný, D. (2024) · The Astrophysical Journal Letters · doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ad3cd2 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“This technique simulates the detectability of objects within a generated orbital distribution for a survey with a specific limiting magnitude (see e.g., Morbidelli et al. 2004).”
MethodSelf-citation
- Authors
- Morbidelli, A., Emel'yanenko, V. V., & Levison, H. F.
- Affiliations
- Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (FR)
- Southwest Research Institute (US)
- Venue
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2004-12-11
- Volume
- 355
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 935-940
- ISSN
- 0035-8711 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2966
- OpenAlex
- W1994763619
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 4.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Space Satellite Systems and Control
- Keywords
- trans-Neptunian objects, orbital distribution, observational bias, planet migration, test particle simulation, solar system evolution
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