Distant Kuiper Belt Objects

Details Distant Kuiper Belt Objects Distant Kuiper Belt Objects

Feb 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001noao.prop..311a&link_type=abstract

NOAO Proposal ID #2001A-0311

Physics

Scientific paper

Kuiper Belt Object surveys indicate a lack of objects with semi- major axis a⪆50 AU in low eccentricity, low inclination orbits. This presents a problem for the simplest theories of Kuiper Belt evolution, which predict a dense, primordial outer Kuiper Belt. A possible solution is that the outer Belt is very dynamically cold, appearing as a razor-thin plane on the sky. If this disk was inclined only 0.5° from the ecliptic, present surveys could fail to detect it since the deep surveys (limiting magnitude R~26) lack sufficient sky coverage and the shallow surveys (limiting mag R~24.4) lack sufficient depth to see small (radius ⪉130 km) objects beyond 50 AU. If this cold, dense disk were to cross a Mosaic field with a limiting magnitude R=25.8, we would expect to see at least 15 distant KBOs. By observing strategically placed large fields we could detect any cold, dense distant disk inclined at up to 0.7° from the invariable plane. This would place a strong constraint on the location of a cold, dense outer Kuiper Belt.

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