Neptune's Eccentricity and the Nature of the Kuiper Belt
William R. Ward,
*
Joseph M. Hahn
The small eccentricity of Neptune may be a direct consequence of
apsidal wave interaction with the trans-Neptune population of debris
called the Kuiper belt. The Kuiper belt is subject to resonant
perturbations from Neptune, so that the transport of angular momentum
by density waves can result in orbital evolution of Neptune as well as
changes in the structure of the Kuiper belt. In particular, for a belt
eroded out to the vicinity of Neptune's 2:1 resonance at
about 48 astronomical units, Neptune's eccentricity can damp to its
current value over the age of the solar system if the belt contains
slightly more than an earth mass of material out to about 75 astronomical units.
W. R. Ward, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute
of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109 USA.
J. M. Hahn, Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600 Bay Area
Boulevard, Houston, TX 77058 USA.
*
Present address: Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut
Street, Suite 429, Boulder, CO 80302 USA.
