Physics
Scientific paper
Feb 1999
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999noao.prop..141a&link_type=abstract
NOAO Proposal ID #1999A-0141
Physics
Scientific paper
We will search a square degree of the ecliptic for objects in the Kuiper Belt (KBOs). The ``digital tracking'' technique will allow us to detect KBOs as faint as R~26 in any orbit. This survey will cover many times more area than any previous KBO survey to this depth. Published results from 2 small-area searches to this depth (7 detections at Keck and Palomar) give anywhere from 30 to 100 objects as our expected yield over the full square degree. This should at least double the total number of KBOs found in well-defined searches. This sample will test theories of the origins of short-period comets and of the sculpting of the outer Solar System by the gravitational perturbations from the giant planets. The survey will be sensitive to KBOs out to 60 AU or farther, probing for the first time the region beyond Pluto. Here the KBOs may still lie unperturbed by the influence of the gas giant planets, and the Solar System is essentially still in its formation stages. A run in May, 1998 resulted in 8 KBO detections to R< 25.4 over ~0.7 square degrees, validating our method, software, noise calculations, and expected object density. Improvements in weather and technique should increase the depth and area of our search. Followup observations have been requested at Keck.
Allen Rhiannon Lynne
Bernstein Gary
Malhotra Renu
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