Formation and evolution of Pluto's small satellites

TL;DR

This paper investigates how collisional interactions in debris around Pluto-Charon can explain the formation and current orbital configuration of Pluto's small satellites, highlighting the role of collisions in debris migration.

Contribution

It demonstrates that collisional processes can move debris outward and form rings, but do not strongly favor satellite formation near mean motion resonances with Charon.

Findings

Collisional interactions help debris migrate outward.

Debris rings evolve rapidly due to collisions.

Resonance-based satellite formation is not strongly supported.

Abstract

Pluto's system of 5 known satellites are in a puzzling orbital configuration. Each of the four small satellites are on low-eccentricity and low-inclination orbits situated near a mean motion resonance with the largest satellite Charon. The Pluto-Charon binary likely formed as a result of a giant impact and so the simplest explanation for the small satellites is that they accreted from debris of that collision. The Pluto-Charon binary has evolved outward since its formation due to tidal forces, which drove them into their current doubly synchronous state. Meanwhile, leftover debris from the formation of Charon was not initially distant enough from Pluto-Charon to explain the orbits of the current small satellites. The outstanding problems of the system are the movement of debris outward and the small satellites location near mean motion resonances with Charon. This work explores the dynamical behavior of collisionally interacting debris orbiting the Pluto-Charon system. While this work specifically tests initial disk and ring configurations designed to mimic the aftermath of the disruption of satellites by heliocentric impactors, we generally find that collisional interactions can help move material outwards and keep otherwise unstable material dynamically bound to the Pluto-Charon system. These processes can produce rings of debris whose orbits evolve rapidly due to collisional processes, with increasing pericenters and decreasing semimajor axes. While these rings and disks of debris eventually build satellites significantly further out than the initial locations of a disrupted satellite, they do not show a strong preference for building satellites in or near mean motion resonances with Charon under a wide array of tested conditions.