Asymmetric distributions of prograde and retrograde orbits in the chaos-assisted capture model of Kuiper-belt binary formation
Résumé
Near-symmetric binaries - i.e., binaries with roughly samesized partners - appear to dominate the known population of binaries in the Kuiper-belt. Herein the mass- and sizeratio distributions, as well the resulting orbit properties, of Kuiper-belt binaries predicted by the chaos-assisted capture formation model are presented.