The inclinations of faint trans-neptunian objects

Abstract

Bernstein et al. found that the population of faint (R > 26) trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) known at that time was dominated by "Classical" objects, which have low inclinations (i < 5°) and distances of 40-45 AU. Since those observations, the number of faint TNOs whose orbits are sufficiently well known to be classified as "Classical" or "Excited" has grown from 7 to 39. We analyze the dynamical classifications of faint TNOs known today and find that this population is dominated by Excited objects. We discuss some implications of this result. © 2010. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.