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Science 17 October 2008:
Vol. 322. no. 5900, pp. 432 - 434
DOI: 10.1126/science.1163148
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Reports
The Extreme Kuiper Belt Binary 2001 QW322
J.-M. Petit,1,3*
J. J. Kavelaars,2
B. J. Gladman,3
J. L. Margot,4
P. D. Nicholson,4
R. L. Jones,5
J. Wm. Parker,6
M. L. N. Ashby,7
A. Campo Bagatin,8
P. Benavidez,8
J. Coffey,3
P. Rousselot,1
O. Mousis,1
P. A. Taylor4
The study of binary Kuiper Belt objects helps to probe the dynamic conditions present during planet formation in the solar system. We report on the mutual-orbit determination of 2001 QW 322, a Kuiper Belt binary with a very large separation whose properties challenge binary-formation and -evolution theories. Six years of tracking indicate that the binary's mutual-orbit period is  25 to 30 years, that the orbit pole is retrograde and inclined 50° to 62° from the ecliptic plane, and, most surprisingly, that the mutual orbital eccentricity is <0.4. The semimajor axis of 105,000 to 135,000 kilometers is 10 times that of other near-equal-mass binaries. Because this weakly bound binary is prone to orbital disruption by interlopers, its lifetime in its present state is probably less than 1 billion years.
2 Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada.
3 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada.
4 Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
5 Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195–1580, USA.
6 Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302–5150, USA.
7 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
8 Escuela Politecnica Superior, University of Alicante, Alicante 03080, Spain.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: petit{at}obs-besancon.fr
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