Small Bodies in the Distant Solar System

TL;DR

This paper reviews the significance of small bodies in the Kuiper Belt for understanding Solar System formation, migration of giant planets, and the importance of observational biases, highlighting future survey prospects.

Contribution

It synthesizes current knowledge on Kuiper Belt objects, emphasizing the role of observational biases and upcoming surveys in advancing Solar System formation theories.

Findings

Orbital distributions inform planet migration history.

Surface properties reveal formation and collision processes.

Upcoming surveys will improve understanding of Solar System evolution.

Abstract

The small bodies in the Kuiper Belt region of the distant Solar System are leftovers from planet formation. Their orbital distribution today tells us about how giant planets migrated, while their surface properties, shapes, and sizes tell us about formation processes and collision rates. Probing these intrinsic properties requires a careful understanding of the observational biases that are a part of any telescopic survey that discovers small bodies. While many of the details of giant planet migration are now understood due to careful comparison between de-biased discoveries in the Kuiper Belt and computational simulations, some discoveries have orbits that are still not easy to explain. Upcoming surveys such as the planned survey on Vera Rubin Observatory will help us to leverage the Kuiper Belt and refine our knowledge about the formation and dynamical history of our own Solar System.