Program: GN-2017B-Q-21

Small primitive bodies were witness to the solar system’s formative processes. A new class of small inactive and weakly active bodies on long-period comet orbits may be the key to distinguishing between models of solar system formation. One of the Manxes has been observed to have surface materials consistent with inner solar system S-type asteroids. Many dynamical models make predictions about the amount of inner solar system material that could reside in the Oort cloud as a result of scattering by the giant planets, and these predictions radically differ depending on the initial mass of the asteroid population that these models assume/imply. Assessing the fraction of S-type surfaces that exist in the Manx population will be a strong test of these models. We are requesting 14.8 hours on Gemini to observe 3 known targets and 2 targets of opportunity. This is part of a continuing program to characterize sufficient Manx objects (50) to be able to use the rocky fraction as a test of solar system dynamical models.