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A dense ring of the trans-Neptunian object Quaoar outside its Roche limit |
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| Author: | Morgado, B. E.1,2,3; Sicardy, B.4; Braga-Ribas, F.5; |
| Organizations: |
1Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - Observatory of Valongo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2National Observatory/MCTI, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 3Interinstitutional e-Astronomy Laboratory (LIneA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
4LESIA, Observatory of Paris, University PSL, CNRS, UPMC, Sorbonne University, University of Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris City, Meudon, France
5Federal University of Technology, Paraná (UTFPR/DAFIS), Curitiba, Brazil 6Institute of Astrophysics at Andalucía, IAA-CSIC, Granada, Spain 7Space Physics and Astronomy Research unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland 8The Institute of Celestial Mechanics and Ephemeris Calculation (IMCCE), Observatory of Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne University, UPMC University of Paris, University of Lille, Lille, France 9Polytechnic Institute of Advanced Sciences (IPSA), Ivry-sur-Seine, France 10Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany 11Orbital Dynamics and Planetology Group, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Guaratinguetá, Brazil 12Institute of Physics, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brazil 13Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK 14Institute of Astrophysics of The Canary Islands, La Laguna, Spain 15Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA 16Reedy Creek Observatory, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia 17Trans-Tasman Occultation Alliance (TTOA), Wellington, New Zealand 18Samford Valley Observatory (Q79), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 19Algester Astronomical Observatory, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 20Observatory of the Côte d’Azur, Lagrange Laboratory UMR7293 CNRS, Nice, France 21naXys, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium 22Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA 23International Occultation Timing Association / European Section, Hannover, Germany 24International Amateur Observatory e.V. (IAS), Mittenwalde, Germany 25Institute of Physics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland 26Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland 27STAR Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium 28Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory, Heidelberg, Germany 29Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK 30INAF, Catania Astrophysical Observatory, Catania, Italy 31Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova University Center, Stockholm, Sweden 32Centre for Exoplanet Science, SUPA School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, UK 33Astronomical Observatory at the University of Geneva, Versoix, Switzerland 34Oukaimeden Observatory, High Energy Physics and Astrophysics Laboratory, FSSM, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco 35School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, UK 36Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA 37Laboratory of Astrophysics of Marseille, University of Aix Marseille, CNRS, CNES, Marseille, France 38Astrobiology Research Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium 39Astronomical Association of Queensland, Pimpama, Queensland, Australia 40School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK 41Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, UK 42AGORA Observatory of Makes, AGORA, La Rivière, France |
| Format: | article |
| Version: | accepted version |
| Access: | open |
| Online Access: | PDF Full Text (PDF, 3.6 MB) |
| Persistent link: | http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi-fe20230929137815 |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Nature,
2023
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| Publish Date: | 2023-09-29 |
| Description: |
AbstractPlanetary rings are observed not only around giant planets¹, but also around small bodies such as the Centaur Chariklo² and the dwarf planet Haumea³. Up to now, all known dense rings were located close enough to their parent bodies, being inside the Roche limit, where tidal forces prevent material with reasonable densities from aggregating into a satellite. Here we report observations of an inhomogeneous ring around the trans-Neptunian body (50000) Quaoar. This trans-Neptunian object has an estimated radius⁴ of 555 km and possesses a roughly 80-km satellite⁵ (Weywot) that orbits at 24 Quaoar radii⁶,⁷. The detected ring orbits at 7.4 radii from the central body, which is well outside Quaoar’s classical Roche limit, thus indicating that this limit does not always determine where ring material can survive. Our local collisional simulations show that elastic collisions, based on laboratory experiments⁸, can maintain a ring far away from the body. Moreover, Quaoar’s ring orbits close to the 1/3 spin–orbit resonance9 with Quaoar, a property shared by Chariklo’s ²,¹⁰,¹¹ and Haumea’s³ rings, suggesting that this resonance plays a key role in ring confinement for small bodies. see all
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| Series: |
Nature |
| ISSN: | 0028-0836 |
| ISSN-E: | 1476-4687 |
| ISSN-L: | 0028-0836 |
| Volume: | 614 |
| Issue: | 7947 |
| Pages: | 239 - 243 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41586-022-05629-6 |
| OADOI: | https://oadoi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05629-6 |
| Type of Publication: |
A1 Journal article – refereed |
| Field of Science: |
115 Astronomy and space science |
| Subjects: | |
| Dataset Reference: |
The observational data that support this paper and other findings of this study are available at the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center (CDS). |
| Copyright information: |
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2023. |