On the genesis of the Haumea system

J. L.ORTIZ; A. CAMPO-BAGATIN; R. GIL-HUTTON; P. G. BENAVIDEZ

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2016 vol. 461 p. 2060 - 2067

0035-8711

The scenarios proposed in the literature for the genesis of the system formed by the dwarfplanet 136108 Haumea, its two satellites and a group of some 10 bodies (the family) withsemimajor axes, eccentricities and inclinations close to Haumea?s values, are analysed againstcollisional, physical, dynamical and statistical arguments in order to assess their likelihood.All scenarios based on collisional events are reviewed under physical arguments and thecorresponding formation probabilities in a collisional environment are evaluated according tothe collisional evolution model ALICANDEP . An alternative mechanism is proposed based on thepotential possibility of (quasi-) independent origin of the family with respect to Haumea andits satellites. As a general conclusion the formation of the Haumea system is a low-probabilityevent in the currently assumed frame for the evolution of the outer Solar system. However, itis possible that current knowledge is missing some key element in the whole story that maycontribute to increase the odds for the formation of such a system.