Surface properties of large TNOs: Expanding the study to longer wavelengths with the James Webb Space Telescope

TL;DR

This paper discusses how the James Webb Space Telescope can be used to study the surface properties of large trans-Neptunian objects across a broad wavelength range, providing new insights into their composition and evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a list of 36 candidate dwarf planets and details JWST's capabilities for studying TNOs in the near- and mid-infrared wavelengths.

Findings

JWST's instruments can observe TNOs from 0.6 to 28 μm.

The study identifies 36 potential dwarf planets with diverse properties.

JWST will enable detailed compositional and thermal analysis of TNOs.

Abstract

The largest trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) represent an extremely diverse collection of primitive bodies in the outer solar system. The community typically refers to these objects as dwarf planets, though the IAU acknowledges only four TNOs officially as such: Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea. We present a list of 36 potential candidates for reclassification as dwarf planets, namely candidate dwarf planets (CDPs), which cover a wide range of sizes, geometric albedos, surface colors and probably, composition. Understanding the properties across this population, and how those properties change with size, will yield useful constraints on the environment in which these TNOs formed, as well as their dynamical evolution, and bulk interior composition. TNO surface characteristics are ideal for study with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which provides imaging and spectroscopic capabilities from 0.6 to 28 $\mu$m. The four available science instruments, MIRI, NIRCam, NIRISS, and NIRSpec, and their capabilities for the study of TNOs, are presented. JWST will expand on the wavelength range observable from the ground in the near-infrared (0.6-5 $\mu$m) for compositional studies and will open a new window on TNOs in the mid-infrared (5-28 $\mu$m) for thermal characterization.