Catching Makemake’s Shadow: A New Look at Its Mysterious Moon
Daniel Bamberger reanalyzed Hubble images of Makemake and its moon MK2, finding an 18-day orbit nearly edge-on to Earth. This alignment could mean eclipses and transits are happening now, offering a rare chance to study the system’s size and surface features. Preliminary results also suggest Makemake is slightly less dense than earlier estimates.
A Warp in the Kuiper Belt: Could a Hidden Planet Be Bending Orbits?
Amir Siraj and colleagues present a new, bias-free way to measure the Kuiper Belt’s mean plane. They find the belt aligns with the solar system’s invariable plane at 50–80 AU, but shows a warp at 80–200 AU and 80–400 AU. Simulations suggest this could be caused by an unseen planet between Mercury- and Earth-mass, orbiting 100–200 AU from the Sun, a body distinct from the hypothesized Planet Nine.
A New Dance Partner for Uranus: Discovering a Minor Planet in Outer Resonance
Daniel Bamberger and colleagues discovered that minor planet 2015 OU194 is in a rare, stable 3:4 outer mean motion resonance with Uranus, the first known example. Using extended observations and simulations, they showed its orbit remains resonant for over a million years. Two other candidates were examined, but none matched 2015 OU194’s stability and near-circular orbit.
Unlocking the Solar System’s Secrets: The Journey of Giant Planets and Distant Trans-Neptunian Objects
V. V. Emel’yanenko’s study of the Nice model shows how migrating giant planets scattered planetesimals, forming distant trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) like Sedna. Simulations over 4 billion years reveal that specific planetary resonances and disk conditions can reproduce the Solar System’s structure and explain TNOs.
Crafting Accurate Orbits: Simplifying the Path to Keplerian Elements
Flores and Fantino propose a branchless algorithm (AL3) to improve the accuracy and efficiency of converting spacecraft trajectories into Keplerian orbital elements. By eliminating branching and using the ATAN2 function, their method enhances precision by up to 100 times and reduces computational time by 43%. For systems with limited capabilities, a hybrid approach (AL5) balances performance and simplicity, making these advancements crucial for modern satellite navigation and orbit optimization.