THE COLOR DIFFERENCES OF KUIPER BELT OBJECTS IN RESONANCE WITH NEPTUNE

The optical colors of 58 objects in mean motion resonance with Neptune were obtained. The various Neptune resonant populations were found to have significantly different surface color distributions. The 5:3 and 7:4 resonances have semimajor axes near the middle of the main Kuiper Belt and both are dominated by ultra-red material (spectral gradient: S greater than or similar to 25). The 5:3 and 7:4 resonances have statistically the same color distribution as the low-inclination cold classical belt. The inner 4:3 and distant 5:2 resonances have objects with mostly moderately red colors (S similar to 15), similar to the scattered and detached disk populations. The 2:1 resonance, which is near the outer edge of the main Kuiper Belt, has a large range of colors with similar numbers of moderately red and ultra-red objects at all inclinations. The 2:1 resonance was also found to have a very rare neutral colored object showing that the 2:1 resonance is really a mix of all object types. The inner 3:2 resonance, like the outer 2:1, has a large range of objects from neutral to ultra-red. The Neptune Trojans (1:1 resonance) are only slightly red (S similar to 9), similar to the Jupiter Trojans. The inner 5:4 resonance only has four objects with measured colors but shows equal numbers of ultra-red and moderately red objects. The 9:5, 12:5, 7:3, 3:1, and 11:3 resonances do not have reliable color distribution statistics since few objects have been observed in these resonances, though it appears noteworthy that all three of the measured 3:1 objects have only moderately red colors, similar to the 4:3 and 5:2 resonances. The different color distributions of objects in mean motion resonance with Neptune are likely a result from the disruption of the primordial Kuiper Belt from the scattering and migration of the giant planets. The few low-inclination objects known in the outer 2:1 and 5:2 resonances are mostly only moderately red. This suggests if the 2:1 and 5:2 have a cold low-inclination component, the objects likely had a significantly different origin than the ultra-red-dominated cold components of the cold classical belt and 5:3 and 7:4 resonances.