The bimodal colors of Centaurs and small Kuiper belt objects

The bimodal colors of Centaurs and small Kuiper belt objects
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半人马座和小型柯伊伯带天体的双峰颜色

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发表时间：
2012
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通讯作者：
Pedro Lacerda
Pedro Lacerda
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作者：
N. Peixinho;A. Delsanti;A. Guilbert;R. Gafeira;Pedro Lacerda

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自从半人马座和柯伊伯带天体（KBO）的第一次测光研究以来，它们的可见光颜色分布一直存在争议。这一争论引发了关于太阳系这些遥远的冰质天体表面颜色起源的多产辩论。已经提出了两种方案来解释和解释颜色的大变化，因此表面组成。这些颜色主要是原始的，与形成区域直接相关，还是表面演化过程的结果？到目前为止，还没有发现任何机制可以成功解释为什么半人马座，这是从柯伊伯带逃脱，表现出两个不同的颜色组，而KBO没有。我们重新解决这个问题，使用一个精心编制的一套B - R颜色和H-R（阿尔法）的大小（作为代理）的253个对象，包括10个新的小对象的数据。我们发现半人马座的双峰颜色分布是一种与尺寸相关的现象，在半人马座和小型KBO中都很常见，即与动力学分类无关。此外，我们发现，大KBO也有一个双峰分布的表面颜色，虽然不同的小对象和强烈依赖于“妊神星碰撞家庭”的对象。当在B - R，H-R（alpha）空间中绘制时，半人马座和KBO的颜色显示出奇特的N形。
Ever since the very first photometric studies of Centaurs and Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) their visible color distribution has been controversial. This controversy has triggered to a prolific debate on the origin of the surface colors of these distant icy objects of the solar system. Two scenarios have been proposed to interpret and explain the large variability of colors, hence surface composition. Are the colors mainly primordial and directly related to the formation region, or are they the result of surface evolution processes? To date, no mechanism has been found that successfully explains why Centaurs, which are escapees from the Kuiper belt, exhibit two distinct color groups, whereas KBOs do not. We readdress this issue using a carefully compiled set of B - R colors and H-R(alpha) magnitudes (as proxy for size) for 253 objects, including data for 10 new small objects. We find that the bimodal color distribution of Centaurs is a size-related phenomenon, common to both Centaurs and small KBOs, i.e. independent of dynamical classification. Furthermore, we find that large KBOs also have a bimodal distribution of surface colors, albeit distinct from the small objects and strongly dependent on the “Haumea collisional family” objects. When plotted in B - R, H-R(alpha) space, the colors of Centaurs and KBOs display a peculiar N shape.