Abstract
This paper explores the possibility that the progenitors of the small satellites of Pluto got captured in the Pluto–Charon system from the massive heliocentric planetesimal disk in which Pluto was originally embedded into. We find that, if the dynamical excitation of the disk is small, temporary capture in the Pluto–Charon system can occur with non- negligible probability, due to the dynamical perturbations exerted by the binary nature of the Pluto–Charon pair. However, the captured objects remain on very elliptic orbits and the typical capture time is only ~ 100 years. In order to explain the origin of the small satellites of Pluto, we conjecture that some of these objects got disrupted during their Pluto-bound phase by a collision with a planetesimal of the disk. This could have generated a debris disk, which damped under internal collisional evolution, until turning itself into an accretional disk that could form small satellites on circular orbits, co-planar with Charon. Unfortunately, we find that objects large enough to carry a sufficient amount of mass to generate the small satellites of Pluto have collisional lifetimes orders of magnitude longer than the capture time. Thus, this scenario cannot explain the origin of the small satellites of Pluto, which remains elusive.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Benz, W., Asphaug, E.: Catastrophic disruptions revisited. Icarus 142, 5–20 (1999). doi:10.1006/icar.1999.6204. arXiv:astro-ph/9907117
Buie, M.W., Grundy, W.M., Young, E.F., Young, L.A., Stern, S.A.: Orbits and photometry of Plutoś satellites: Charon, S/2005 P1, and S/2005 P2. AJ 132, 290–298 (2006). doi:10.1086/504422. arXiv:astro-ph/0512491
Canup R.M.: A giant impact origin of Pluto–Charon. Science 307, 546–550 (2005). doi:10.1126/science.1106818
Canup R.M.: On a giant impact origin of Charon, Nix, and Hydra. AJ 141, 35 (2011). doi:10.1088/0004-6256/141/2/35
Cheng, W.H.: Tidal Evolution of Pluto–Charon and the Implications for the Origin of the Satellites Nix and Hydra. Master’s Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (2011)
Gomes R., Levison H.F., Tsiganis K., Morbidelli A.: Origin of the cataclysmic late heavy bombardment period of the terrestrial planets. Nature 435, 466–469 (2005). doi:10.1038/nature03676
Leinhardt, Z.M., Stewart, S.T.: Full numerical simulations of catastrophic small body collisions. Icarus 199, 542–559 (2009). doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2008.09.013, 0811.0175
Levison H.F., Duncan M.J.: The long-term dynamical behavior of short-period comets. Icarus 108, 18–36 (1994). doi:10.1006/icar.1994.1039
Levison, H.F., Morbidelli, A., Vanlaerhoven, C., Gomes, R., Tsiganis K.: Origin of the structure of the Kuiper belt during a dynamical instability in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. Icarus 196, 258–273 (2008). doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2007.11.035, 0712.0553
Levison H.F., Bottke W.F., Gounelle M., Morbidelli A., Nesvorný D., Tsiganis K.: Contamination of the asteroid belt by primordial trans-Neptunian objects. Nature 460, 364–366 (2009). doi:10.1038/nature08094
Levison H.F., Morbidelli A., Tsiganis K., Nesvorný D., Gomes R.: Late orbital instabilities in the outer planets induced by interaction with a self-gravitating planetesimal disk. AJ 142, 152 (2011). doi:10.1088/0004-6256/142/5/152
Lithwick, Y., Wu, Y.: On the Origin of Pluto’s Minor Moons, Nix and Hydra. ArXiv e-prints 0802.2951 (2008)
Malhotra R.: The origin of Pluto’s peculiar orbit. Nature 365, 819–821 (1993). doi:10.1038/365819a0
McKinnon W.B.: On the origin of the Pluto–Charon binary. ApJ 344, L41–L44 (1989). doi:10.1086/185526
Morbidelli, A., Levison, H.F., Gomes, R.: The Dynamical Structure of the Kuiper Belt and Its Primordial Origin, pp. 275–292. University of Arizona Press, Tucson (2008)
Morbidelli A., Levison H.F., Bottke W.F., Dones L., Nesvorný D.: Considerations on the magnitude distributions of the Kuiper belt and of the Jupiter Trojans. Icarus 202, 310–315 (2009). doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2009.02.033
Nesvorný, D., Youdin, A.N., Richardson, D.C.: Formation of Kuiper belt binaries by gravitational collapse. AJ 140, 785–793 (2010). doi:10.1088/0004-6256/140/3/785, 1007.1465
Peale, S.J., Cheng, W.H., Lee, M.H.: The evolution of the Pluto system. In: EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011, p. 665 (2011)
Stern S.A., Weaver H.A., Steffl A.J., Mutchler M.J., Merline W.J., Buie M.W., Young E.F., Young L.A., Spencer J.R.: A giant impact origin for Pluto’s small moons and satellite multiplicity in the Kuiper belt. Nature 439, 946–948 (2006). doi:10.1038/nature04548
Tholen, D.J., Buie, M.W.: Bulk Properties of Pluto and Charon, p. 193. University of Arizona Press, Tucson (1997)
Tholen, D.J., Buie, M.W., Grundy, W.M., Elliott, G.T.: Masses of Nix and Hydra. AJ 135, 777–784 (2008). doi:10.1088/0004-6256/135/3/777, 0712.1261
Valsecchi A., Manara G.B.: Dynamics of comets in the outer planetary region. II. Enhanced planetary masses and orbital evolutionary paths. A&A 323, 986–998 (1997)
Ward W.R., Canup R.M.: Forced resonant migration of Pluto’s outer satellites by Charon. Science 313, 1107–1109 (2006). doi:10.1126/science.1127293
Weaver, H.A., Stern, S.A., Mutchler, M.J., Steffl, A.J., Buie, M.W., Merline, W.J., et al.: Discovery of two new satellites of Pluto. Nature 439, 943–945 (2006). doi:10.1038/nature04547. arXiv:astro-ph/0601018
Wetherill G.W.: Collisions in the asteroid belt. J. Geophys. Res. 72, 2429 (1967). doi:10.1029/JZ072i009p02429
Wetherill G.W., Stewart G.R.: Formation of planetary embryos—effects of fragmentation, low relative velocity, and independent variation of eccentricity and inclination. Icarus 106, 190 (1993). doi:10.1006/icar.1993.1166
Youdin, A.N., Kratter, K.M., Kenyon, S.J.: Circumbinary Chaos: Using Pluto’s Newest Moon to Constrain the Masses of Nix & Hydra. ArXiv e-prints 1205.5273 (2012)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pires dos Santos, P.M., Morbidelli, A. & Nesvorný, D. Dynamical capture in the Pluto–Charon system. Celest Mech Dyn Astr 114, 341–352 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10569-012-9442-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10569-012-9442-y