Accretion in the Early Outer Solar System

Abstract

We describe calculations of the evolution of an ensemble of small planetesimals in the outer solar system. In a solar nebula with a mass of several times the minimum mass solar nebula, objects with radii of 100-1000 km can form on timescales of 10-100 Myr. Model luminosity functions derived from these calculations agree with current observations of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune (Kuiper Belt objects). New surveys with current and planned instruments can place better constraints on the mass and dynamics of the solar nebula by measuring the luminosity function at red magnitudes, m_R ≥ 28.