The Colors of Extreme Outer Solar System Objects
Scott S. Sheppard (Carnegie Institution of Washington)

TL;DR
This study investigates the surface colors of 33 distant Solar System objects, revealing correlations between color, orbital characteristics, and likely origins, with ultra-red surfaces linked to objects far from the Sun and from specific source regions.
Contribution
It provides new observational data on surface colors of distant objects, highlighting color trends and their implications for understanding their origins and surface compositions.
Findings
Objects linked to the inner Oort cloud have ultra-red surfaces.
Distant objects tend to have redder surfaces, with a trend of increasing redness with distance.
Different populations show distinct color distributions, indicating varied origins.
Abstract
(Abridged) Thirty-three objects with possible origins beyond the Kuiper Belt edge, very high inclinations, very large semi-major axes or large perihelion distances were observed to determine their surface colors. All three objects that have been dynamically linked to the inner Oort cloud (Sedna, 2006 SQ372, and 2000 OO67) were found to have ultra-red surfaces (S~25). Ultra-red material is generally associated with rich organics and the low inclination "cold" classical Kuiper Belt objects. The observations detailed here show very red material may be a more general feature for objects kept far from the Sun. The recently discovered retrograde outer Solar System objects (2008 KV42 and 2008 YB3) and the high inclination object (127546) 2002 XU93 show only moderately red surfaces (S~9), very similar to known comets. The extended or detached disk objects, which have large perihelion distances…
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