Overview
- The team refined orbital solutions for 1,650 Kuiper belt objects and used the DBSCAN algorithm, which consistently recovered the known ~44 AU kernel and flagged an additional cluster near ~43 AU.
- The proposed inner kernel’s members have unusually low eccentricities, with a Rayleigh dispersion of about 0.025 and a free‑eccentricity range of roughly 0.01–0.06.
- Authors argue the cluster’s orbital calmness points to an old, largely undisturbed population that could preserve clues to the early Solar System.
- Planetary scientist David Nesvorný notes the feature, if real, could inform models of Neptune’s outward migration and brief resonant captures.
- The result is reported as a preprint and is not yet peer reviewed, and upcoming surveys such as the Rubin Observatory’s LSST are expected to test whether this is a distinct structure or an extension of the known kernel.