Research thesis

Abstract

Trans Neptunian objects are icy bodies in the outer solar system which orbit at a distance from the Sun further than Neptune. Ninety four such objects, discovered in the last thirty years and observed by astronomers many times since, are the subject of this paper. Several new observations of these objects have been made over the past couple years. By incorporating these new data points, the goal is to discover whether these objects continue to exhibit behaviors characteristic of resonant Trans-Neptunian Objects. Resonant objects are objects which have an orbital period with an integer ratio to that of Neptune and a resonant angle that oscillates within 360° in orbital integrations over million year timescales. In order to classify their dynamical behavior, n-body simulations were performed by others in the LIDO research group, and then the data analyzed and summarized in this paper. It was found that 52 objects can be classified as resonant secure, 4 as resonant insecure, 6 as Kozai resonant, 29 as non-resonant, and 3 objects are unclassifiable and require further observation. Of these objects, all but 9 were found to be Plutinos.