Other
Scientific paper
Feb 1999
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999noao.prop..216h&link_type=abstract
NOAO Proposal ID #1999A-0216
Other
Scientific paper
The Kuiper belt is comprised of three populations: objects in Neptune's mean motion resonances, objects with more distant non-resonant orbits, and objects that have been scattered by Neptune. The dynamics of resonant and scattered objects affects their observability and therefore complicates any estimate of their intrinsic abundances. While non-resonant objects are equally observable at all ecliptic longitudes, the 2:3 resonant Kuiper belt objects, for example, reach perihelion at ecliptic longitudes separated 90° from Neptune, where they are significantly brighter and hence overrepresented. The resonant dynamics also implies that some objects are most observable at moderate ecliptic latitudes rather than on the ecliptic plane. By comparing the number of KBOs discovered at two different ecliptic longitudes, one 90° and another 180° from Neptune, we can the determine the intrinsic abundances of the different populations. By searching three ecliptic latitudes, 0°, 15°, and 30°, at both of the longitudes we will also constrain the intrinsic size and inclination distributions of the three populations. We expect to discover 30-50 new KBOs.
Gladman Brett
Holman Matthew J.
Kavelaars John J.
Lopez-Cruz Omar
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