Thermal short-time variability of Kuiper Belt Objects observed with Herschel
Abstract
Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) are leftovers of the Solar System formation and likely the most pristine and less physically-chemically altered bodies we know in our planetary system. Centaurs are related to KBOs and it is believed that they are the link between the latter and the Jupiter Family Comets. Around 1300 KBOs and 200 Centaurs have been discovered as of today. Thermal fluxes of KBOs, with typical temperatures ~20-50 K, have their maxima in the Herschel-PACS wavelengths (60-210 microns). Herschel-PACS observations, covering sufficient time to resolve the thermal light curves (i.e. thermal flux variations versus time), have been obtained for eight KBOs/Centaurs. Results from these observations are presented here.
- Publication:
-
European Planetary Science Congress
- Pub Date:
- April 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014EPSC....9..187S