Dr. Kat Volk, University of Arizona
When
Abstract: The current orbital structure of the trans-Neptunian region holds the key to understanding how the giant planets migrated to their present-day orbits. In particular, the population of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) captured into orbital resonance with Neptune during migration are capable of recording properties of that migration. There are, however, challenges in observationally constraining the current distribution of resonant TNOs, determining which resonant TNOs were likely captured during migration, and in generalizing theoretical studies and numerical simulations of resonant capture during migration. I will discuss some of my recent and ongoing investigations into these challenges. I will show models of the transient resonant TNO populations and how this can inform the interpretation of observationally derived resonant TNO population models. I will also present the results of investigations into how Neptune’s migration characteristics affect the distributions of primordially captured TNOs in the 3:2 and 2:1 resonance; some of these results offer counterpoints to recent investigations in the literature, highlighting the difficulty of uniquely constraining Neptune’s migration based on numerical investigations. I will end by discussing current and future observational investigations that will help guide further theoretical work.
Refreshments served at 3:15pm in the 3rd Floor Atrium