The Compositions of Kuiper Belt Objects

Abstract

Objects in the Kuiper belt are small and far away thus difficult to study in detail even with the best telescopes available at earth. For much of the early history of the Kuiper belt, studies of the compositions of these objects were relegated to collections of moderate quality spectral and photometric data that remained difficult to interpret. Much early effort was put into simple correlations of surface colors and identifications of spectral features, but it was difficult to connect the observations to a larger understanding of the region. The last decade, however, has seen a blossoming in our understanding of the compositions of objects in the Kuiper belt. This blossoming is a product of the discoveries of larger -- and thus easier to study -- objects, continued dedication to the collection of a now quite large collection of high quality photometric and spectroscopic observations, and continued work at the laboratory and theoretical level. Today we now know of many processes which affect the surface compositions of objects in the Kuiper belt, including atmospheric loss, differentiation and cryovolcanism, radiation processing, the effects of giant impacts, and the early dynamical excitation of the Kuiper belt. We review the large quantity of data now available and attempt to build a comprehensive framework for understanding the surface compositions and their causes. In contrast to surface compositions, the bulk compositions of objects in the Kuiper belt remain poorly measured and even more poorly understood, but prospects for a deeper understanding of the formation of the the outer solar are even greater from this subject.