研究人员表明，只有天体厄里斯分化成冰壳和岩核，才能解释它的耗散。该研究团队进一步证明，厄里斯的冰壳必须是对流的，才能有足够的耗散性，这使得它有别与冥王星的外壳。研究人员强调，天体厄里斯与冥王星相比挥发物明显减少，这种差异也许是更强烈撞击的结果。
据研究人员介绍，巨大的柯伊伯带天体厄里斯被潮汐锁定在它的小伴星 Dysnomia 上。出乎意料的是，研究最近获得的 Dysnomia 质量界限表明，天体厄里斯可能随着太阳系的年龄衰减而耗散。
附：英文原文
Title: The internal structure of Eris inferred from its spin and orbit evolution
Author: Francis Nimmo, Michael E. Brown
Issue&Volume: 2023-11-17
Abstract: The large Kuiper Belt object Eris is tidally locked to its small companion Dysnomia. Recently obtained bounds on the mass of Dysnomia demonstrate that Eris must be unexpectedly dissipative for it to have despun over the age of the solar system. Here, we show that Eris must have differentiated into an ice shell and rocky core to explain the dissipation. We further demonstrate that Eris’s ice shell must be convecting to be sufficiently dissipative, which distinguishes it from Pluto’s conductive shell. The difference is likely due to Eris’s apparent depletion.
DOI: adi9201
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adi9201