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Production of the Extended Scattered Disk by Rogue Planets

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Published 2006 May 10 © 2006. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
, , Citation Brett Gladman and Collin Chan 2006 ApJ 643 L135 DOI 10.1086/505214

1538-4357/643/2/L135

Abstract

We show that if the early outer solar system contained one or more additional planets of an Earth mass or larger, these planets are likely to be temporarily emplaced in the Kuiper Belt's "scattered disk." While on an orbit of large semimajor axis, such a "rogue planet" may efficiently raise either (1) the perihelia of other scattered-disk objects, emplacing them in the "extended scattered disk," or (2) their orbital inclinations, to the levels currently observed in the Kuiper Belt. With even a single rogue planet present, the probability of producing extended scattered disk objects is 20%-50%. After the rogue is removed from the system (on a characteristic timescale of 200 Myr), most extended scattered disk orbits are not appreciably modified over the age of the solar system. Objects with large orbital inclinations like the outliers 2004 XR190, 2003 UB313, 2000 CR105, and Sedna are also produced.

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10.1086/505214