[Baps] Tue 9/16 CfA ITC Seminar: 2003 EL61: The Most Interesting Kuiper Belt Object

[Sarah Stewart-Mukhopadhyay]

http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/events/calendar/latest.html

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

*12:30 pm:* Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC)
Seminar<http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/itc/events/tue0809.htm>.
"2003 EL61: The Most Interesting Kuiper Belt Object," Darin Ragozzine,
Calfornia Institute of Technology. Pratt Conference Room.

*Abstract:* Among all the small bodies orbiting beyond Neptune, 2003 EL61 is
one of the most remarkable. Its exceptionally fast rotation - 4 hour period
- stretches it into a highly tri-axial ellipsoid: about as large as Pluto
along its largest axis, but only a third of Plutos mass. EL61 is also the
largest fragment of the only known collisional family in the outer solar
system and pre-dates families in the asteroid belt. Finally, the collision
that spun up EL61 and produced the collisional family also created two
massive moons. With unexpectedly high eccentricities and inclinations, these
satellites have a rich dynamical history of both excitation and extensive
tidal evolution. I will discuss our dynamical understanding of this most
interesting Kuiper belt object.


-- 
Sarah T. Stewart-Mukhopadhyay
Asst. Professor of Planetary Science
Dept. of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University
Office 617.496.6462 Lab 617.496.5782 Fax 617.384.8249
sstewart at eps.harvard.edu
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~planets/sstewart/

Assistant:Marcie Steeves, steeves at eps.harvard.edu, 617-495-2350
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