Conférence - David Nesvorný : Formation of Equal-Size Binaries in the Kuiper Belt

Alessandro Morbidelli Chaire Formation planétaire : de la Terre aux exoplanètes Collège de France Année 2025-2026

David Nesvorný Conférence - David Nesvorný : Formation of Equal-Size Binaries in the Kuiper Belt

David Nesvorný Southwest Research Institute, USA

Résumé

A critical step in the emergence of planets within a protoplanetary disk is the accretion of planetesimals - bodies ranging from 1 to 1,000 kilometers in size - formed from smaller solid constituents. However, this process remains poorly understood, largely due to limited observational constraints on the complex physical mechanisms involved in planetesimal formation. In the outer Solar System, the best place to look for clues is the Kuiper belt, where a population of icy planetesimals survived to this day. We present evidence that Kuiper Belt planetesimals formed via the streaming instability, a process in which aerodynamically concentrated clumps of pebbles undergo gravitational collapse to form 100-kilometer-class bodies. This mechanism explains the high prevalence of equal-sized binaries observed in the Kuiper Belt. The model predicts a broad inclination distribution and a predominance of prograde binary orbits, consistent with observations of trans-Neptunian binaries. Given its robustness across a wide range of protoplanetary disk conditions, the streaming instability is likely to have played a central role in seeding planetesimal formation throughout the Solar System and in other planetary systems as well.