Published November 20, 2007
| Version Published + Accepted Version
Journal Article
Open
Detection of Methane on Kuiper Belt Object (50000) Quaoar
Abstract
The near-infrared spectrum of (50000) Quaoar obtained at the Keck Observatory shows distinct absorption features of crystalline water ice, solid methane, and ethane, and possibly other higher order hydrocarbons. Quaoar is only the fifth Kuiper Belt object (KBO) on which volatile ices have been detected. The small amount of methane on an otherwise water ice-dominated surface suggests that Quaoar is a transition object between the dominant volatile-poor small KBOs and the few volatile-rich large KBOs such as Pluto and Eris.
Additional Information
© 2007 American Astronomical Society. Print publication: Issue 1 (2007 November 20); received 2007 September 6; accepted for publication 2007 October 4; published 2007 October 25. We thank an anonymous referee for a helpful review. E. L. S. is supported by a NASA Graduate Student Research Fellowship. The data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, The University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.Attached Files
Published - SCHAapjl07b.pdf
Accepted Version - 0710.3591.pdf
Files
0710.3591.pdf
Additional details
Identifiers
- Eprint ID
- 17711
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20100309-143105854
Related works
- Describes
- https://arxiv.org/abs/0710.3591 (URL)
Funding
- NASA Graduate Student Research Fellowship
- W. M. Keck Foundation
Dates
- Created
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2010-03-10Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-08Created from EPrint's last_modified field
Caltech Custom Metadata
- Caltech groups
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS)