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Petit JM, Kavelaars JJ, Gladman BJ, et al. The extreme Kuiper Belt binary 2001 QW322. Science. 2008;322(5900):432-4doi: 10.1126/science.1163148.
Petit, J. M., Kavelaars, J. J., Gladman, B. J., Margot, J. L., Nicholson, P. D., Jones, R. L., Parker, J. W., Ashby, M. L., Bagatin, A. C., Benavidez, P., Coffey, J., Rousselot, P., Mousis, O., & Taylor, P. A. (2008). The extreme Kuiper Belt binary 2001 QW322. Science (New York, N.Y.), 322(5900), 432-4. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1163148
Petit, J-M, et al. "The extreme Kuiper Belt binary 2001 QW322." Science (New York, N.Y.) vol. 322,5900 (2008): 432-4. doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1163148
Petit JM, Kavelaars JJ, Gladman BJ, Margot JL, Nicholson PD, Jones RL, Parker JW, Ashby ML, Bagatin AC, Benavidez P, Coffey J, Rousselot P, Mousis O, Taylor PA. The extreme Kuiper Belt binary 2001 QW322. Science. 2008 Oct 17;322(5900):432-4. doi: 10.1126/science.1163148. PMID: 18927391.
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Science. 2008 Oct 17;322(5900):432-4. doi: 10.1126/science.1163148.

The extreme Kuiper Belt binary 2001 QW322.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

J-M Petit, J J Kavelaars, B J Gladman, J L Margot, P D Nicholson, R L Jones, J Wm Parker, M L N Ashby, A Campo Bagatin, P Benavidez, J Coffey, P Rousselot, O Mousis, P A Taylor

Affiliations

  1. Observatoire de Besançon, Universite de Franche Comte, Besancon, Doubs 25010, France. [email protected]

PMID: 18927391 DOI: 10.1126/science.1163148

Abstract

The study of binary Kuiper Belt objects helps to probe the dynamic conditions present during planet formation in the solar system. We report on the mutual-orbit determination of 2001 QW322, a Kuiper Belt binary with a very large separation whose properties challenge binary-formation and -evolution theories. Six years of tracking indicate that the binary's mutual-orbit period is approximately 25 to 30 years, that the orbit pole is retrograde and inclined 50 degrees to 62 degrees from the ecliptic plane, and, most surprisingly, that the mutual orbital eccentricity is <0.4. The semimajor axis of 105,000 to 135,000 kilometers is 10 times that of other near-equal-mass binaries. Because this weakly bound binary is prone to orbital disruption by interlopers, its lifetime in its present state is probably less than 1 billion years.

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