Spencer, J.R. and Stern, S.A. and Moore, J.M. and Weaver, H.A. and Singer, K.N. and Olkin, C.B. and Verbiscer, A. J. and McKinnon, W.B. and Parker, J.Wm. and Beyer, R.A. and Keane, J.T. and Lauer, T.R. and Porter, S.B. and White, O.L. and Buratti, B.J. and El-Maarry, Mohamed Ramy and Lisse, C.M. and Parker, A.H. and Throop, H.B. and Robbins, S.J. and Umurhan, O.M. and Binzel, R.P. and Britt, D.T. and Buie, M.W. and Cheng, A.F. and Cruikshank, D.P. and Elliott, H.A. and Gladstone, G.R. and Grundy, W.M. and Hill, M.E. and Horanyi, M. and Jennings, D.E. and Kavelaars, J.J. and Linscott, I.R. and McComas, D.J. and McNutt, R.L. and Protopapa, S. and Reuter, D.C. and Schenk, P.M. and Showalter, M.R. and Young, L.A. and Zangari, A.M. and Abedin, A.Y. and Beddingfield, C.B. and Benecchi, S.D. and Bernardoni, E. and Bierson, C.J. and Borncamp, D. and Bray, V.J. and Chaikin, A.L. and Dhingra, R.D. and Fuentes, C. and Fuse, T. and Gay, P.L. and Gwyn, S.D.J. and Hamilton, D.P. and Hofgartner, J.D. and Holman, M.J. and Howard, A.D. and Howett, C.J.A. and Karoji, H. and Kaufmann, D.E. and Kinczyk, M. and May, B.H. and Mountain, M. and Pätzold, M. and Petit, J.M. and Piquette, M.R. and Reid, I.N. and Reitsema, H.J. and Runyon, K.D. and Sheppard, S.S. and Stansberry, J.A. and Stryk, T. and Tanga, P. and Tholen, D.J. and Trilling, D.E. and Wasserman, L.H. (2020) The geology and geophysics of Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth. Science 367 (6481), eaay3999. ISSN 0036-8075.
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Abstract
The Cold Classical Kuiper Belt, a class of small bodies in undisturbed orbits beyond Neptune, are primitive objects preserving information about Solar System formation. The New Horizons spacecraft flew past one of these objects, the 36 km long contact binary (486958) Arrokoth (2014 MU69), in January 2019. Images from the flyby show that Arrokoth has no detectable rings, and no satellites (larger than 180 meters diameter) within a radius of 8000 km, and has a lightly-cratered smooth surface with complex geological features, unlike those on previously visited Solar System bodies. The density of impact craters indicates the surface dates from the formation of the Solar System. The two lobes of the contact binary have closely aligned poles and equators, constraining their accretion mechanism.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published at the link above. |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Natural Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Administrator |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Oct 2020 11:44 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 18:04 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/40960 |
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