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Impactor Flux on the Pluto-Charon System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2010

Gonzalo C. de Elía ,
Romina P. Di Sisto  and
Adrián Brunini
Gonzalo C. de Elía
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas - UNLP, IALP - CCT La Plata - CONICET, Paseo del Bosque S/N (1900), La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina email: gdeelia@fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar, romina@fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar, abrunini@fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar
Romina P. Di Sisto
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas - UNLP, IALP - CCT La Plata - CONICET, Paseo del Bosque S/N (1900), La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina email: gdeelia@fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar, romina@fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar, abrunini@fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar
Adrián Brunini
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas - UNLP, IALP - CCT La Plata - CONICET, Paseo del Bosque S/N (1900), La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina email: gdeelia@fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar, romina@fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar, abrunini@fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar
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Abstract

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In this work, we study the impactor flux on Pluto and Charon due to the collisional evolution of Plutinos.To do this, we develop a statistical code that includes catastrophic collisions and cratering events, and takes into account the stability and instability zones of the 3:2 mean motion resonance with Neptune. Our results suggest that if 1 Pluto-sized object is in this resonance, the flux of D = 2 km Plutinos on Pluto is ~4–24 percent of the flux of D = 2 km Kuiper Belt projectiles on Pluto. However, with 5 Pluto-sized objects in the resonance, the contribution of the Plutino population to the impactor flux on Pluto may be comparable to that of the Kuiper Belt. As for Charon, if 1 Pluto-sized object is in the 3:2 resonance, the flux of D = 2 km Plutinos is ~10–63 percent of the flux of D = 2 km impactors coming from the Kuiper Belt. However, with 5 Pluto-sized objects, the Plutino population may be a primary source of the impactor flux on Charon. We conclude that it is necessary to specify the Plutino size distribution and the number of Pluto-sized objects in the 3:2 Neptune resonance in order to determine if the Plutino population is a primary source of impactors on the Pluto-Charon system.

Keywords

Kuiper BeltSolar System: GeneralMethods: Numerical
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Symposium S263: Icy Bodies of the Solar System , August 2009 , pp. 98 - 101
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

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