A new study published in The Planetary Science Journal suggests that a recently identified Kuiper Belt trio, possibly only the second of its kind, could provide strong evidence that these distant objects didn’t form from collisions but instead took shape through gravitational collapse – just like stars.
The discovery was made using data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Hawaii’s W. M. Keck Observatory. Researchers identified what appears to be a stable trio of icy space rocks in the Kuiper Belt, a distant region of our solar system.
This finding would support a specific theory about the history of our solar system and how Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) formed. The universe is home to many gravitationally bound three-body systems, from triple star systems to planets with two moons, like Mars.
The Kuiper Belt – our solar system’s distant region of icy objects – may also host such systems. Scientists have identified a second potential triple system in the Kuiper Belt, where what was previously thought to be a binary may actually contain a hidden third member. This third object is 10 times larger than Arrokoth, another contact binary found by NASA’s New Horizons mission.
Researchers say it’s more likely they are looking at a population of three-body systems, formed by the same circumstances. With two of these systems likely triples, this would be an exciting discovery for the field of astronomy. The upcoming eclipsing season of Altjira will provide scientists with a great opportunity to learn more about the intriguing system.
This study is a significant contribution to our understanding of the Kuiper Belt and its potential for hosting three-body systems.
Source: https://scitechdaily.com/3-7-billion-miles-away-hubble-uncovers-a-hidden-trio-that-could-rewrite-kuiper-belt-history