Computer Science
Scientific paper
Jul 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994hst..prop.5312c&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #5312
Computer Science
Hst Proposal Id #5312 Solar System Comets
Scientific paper
We propose to perform a deep WFPC2 imaging search for the Kuiper Belt, the probable source of the short period comets. The search will consist of two sets of thirty 10-min exposures. Each set (total exposure time for each is 5-hour) will reach a limiting magnitude of 28.5, or down to objects of radius = 11 km if they have albedo = 0.04 and are at 40 AU. The search will be complete down to this size. If reasonable assumptions are made about initial surface density distribution, albedo and minimum size of a body which could be seen as a short period comet, we would expect to see between 12 and 65 Kuiper belt objects. This is in marked contrast to ground-based studies which are limited to relatively large objects (radius > 55 km) which are atypical of short period comets. Whereas the ground-based searches have proved the existence of bodies in the region of the Kuiper belt, they are unable to prove the belt contains objects that are the size of short period comets, nor can they define the size distribution. The HST survey we propose will either confirm the link between short period comets and the Kuiper belt, or it will place severe constraints on the size distribution of objects in the belt.
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