A Descriptive Taxonomic Nomenclature for Intermediate-sized Trans-Neptunian Object Spectra
Abstract Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), icy remnants of planet formation orbiting beyond Neptune, comprise a dynamically and compositionally diverse population of >5000 known members. An extensive body of literature focuses on the dynamical structure of the trans-Neptunian region. Less information is available on TNO compositions due to the difficulty carrying out spectral observations of objects dozens of astronomical unit from the Sun. The James Webb Space Telescope has revolutionized our understanding of TNO surface compositions by enabling near-infrared spectroscopy out to ∼5 μ m. Clustering and principal component analysis reveal that the majority of intermediate-size TNOs fall into one of three broad spectral classes. Here we propose a more descriptive taxonomy based on the most spectrally prominent features for each class: H 2 O-, CO 2 -, and organics-types. Additional categories may arise via future JWST observations; the naming convention described here is extensible to any newly identified (sub-)categories based on prominent spectral features.
Authors
- Aurélie Guilbert-Lepoutre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2354-0766)
- Mário De Prá (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8746-6468)
- N. Pinilla-Alonso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2770-7896)
- Charles A. Collyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7149-5212)
- J. Licandro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9214-337X)
- Bryan J. Holler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6117-0164)
- Michael E. Brown (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8255-0545)
- R. Brunetto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3001-9362)
- Susan Benecchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8821-5927)
- Benjamin N. L. Sharkey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1383-1578)
- Larissa Markwardt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2486-1118)
- Ana Carolina Souza-Feliciano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2414-1460)
- Brittany Harvison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0624-5385)
- A. Verbiscer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3323-9304)
- Wesley C. Fraser (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6680-6558)
- Matthew Belyakov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4778-6170)
- D. P. Cruikshank (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0541-5569)
- Benjamin Proudfoot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1788-870X)
- John W. Noonan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2152-6987)
- N. Peixinho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6830-476X)
- Silvia Protopapa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8541-8550)
- L. A. Young (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7547-3967)
- Lucas McClure (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8041-0573)
- Ian Wong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9665-8429)
- Richard Cartwright (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6886-6009)
- John Stansberry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2434-5225)
- Thomas Müller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0717-0462)
- Sasha Cryan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3966-1980)
- J. J. Melendy
Publication Details
- Journal
- Research Notes of the AAS
- Published
- 2025-09-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2515-5172/ae03a2
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Astro and Planetary Science
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.31