The origin of Pluto's peculiar orbit (original) (raw)

Nature volume 365, pages 819–821 (1993)Cite this article

Abstract

THE origin of Pluto's unusual orbit—the most eccentric and inclined of all the planets—remains a mystery. The orbits of Pluto and Neptune overlap, but close approaches of these two planets are prevented by the existence of a resonance condition1: Pluto's orbital period is exactly 3/2 that of Neptune, which ensures that the conjunctions always occur near Pluto's aphelion. Long-term orbit integrations2–5 have uncovered other subtle resonances and near-resonances, and indicate that Pluto's orbit is chaotic yet remains macroscopically stable over billion-year timescales. A suggestion4 that the orbit may have evolved purely by chaotic dynamics appears unlikely in light of recent orbital stability studies6, unless one appeals to a well-timed collision to place Pluto in its stable orbit19. Here I show that Pluto could have acquired its current orbit during the late stages of planetary accretion, when the jovian planets underwent significant orbital migration as a result of encounters with residual planetesimals7. As Neptune moved outwards, a small body like Pluto in an initially circular orbit could have been captured into the 3:2 resonance, following which its orbital eccentricity would rise rapidly to its current Neptune-crossing value.

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  1. Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, Texas, 77058, USA
    Renu Malhotra

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Malhotra, R. The origin of Pluto's peculiar orbit.Nature 365, 819–821 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/365819a0

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