The Size-distribution of Scattered Disk TNOs from that of JFCs between 0.2 and 15km effective radius

TL;DR

This study analyzes the size distribution of Jupiter Family comets and TNOs, suggesting that many cometary nuclei are primordial objects with a size distribution indicating limited collisional evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a new statistical model linking active JFCs to TNOs, accounting for devolatization and mass-loss, and provides the first detailed size distribution comparison between these populations.

Findings

JFC size distribution is closer to exponential than power-law.

Estimated total active JFCs between 0.2 and 15 km is approximately 2300.

TNO population's size distribution suggests many nuclei are primordial and not collisionally evolved.

Abstract

We investigate the size-frequency distribution of Jupiter Family comets to determine whether they are primordial accreted objects or collisional fragments. We develop a list of effective radii and their uncertainties for 161 active JFCs and compute the observed size-frequency distribution using a Probability Index technique. The radii range from 0.2 to 15.4 km. This is then corrected for the effects of observational selection using a model published earlier by Meech et al.(2004). We estimate that the total number of active JFCs between 0.2 and 15.4 km is approximately 2300.The active JFC size-frequency distribution, over the range from 0.6 to 10 km where it is best defined, is found to be closer to an exponential distribution in character than a power-law. We then develop a statistical model, based on the assumption of a steady state, for converting the distribution of active JFCs to the SFD of the source population among the TNOs. The model includes the effects of devolatization (that produces a large sub-class of defunct nuclei) and surficial mass-loss. Comparison with available TNO observations shows that to simultaneously attain continuity with the data on objects in the hot TNO population (Fuentes et al,2010), satisfy constraints on the number of TNOs set by the occultation detections of Schlichting et al.(2012), and to remain within upper limits set by the Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey (TAOS; Zhang et al,2013) the total JFC population must contain a large fraction of small defunct nuclei. The effective power-law index of the inferred TNO differential SFD between 1 and 10 km is -4.5 +/- 0.5 indicating a population in this range that is not in fully relaxed collisional equilibrium. We conclude that the cometary nuclei visited by spacecraft and many JFCs are primordial accreted objects relatively unaffected by collisional evolution.