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Scientific paper
Jul 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001hst..prop.9110b&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #9110
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Hst Proposal Id #9110 Solar System
Scientific paper
The large number of collisions thought to have taken place in the primordial Kuiper belt suggests that many Kuiper belt objects {KBOs} could have suffered binary-forming collisions similar to that which formed the Pluto - Charon binary. Detection of such KBO satellites would allow us to measure KBO masses, would help us to understand the past collisional environment of the Kuiper belt, and would give a context to the otherwise unique-seeming formation of the Pluto - Charon binary. We propose a STIS CCD search for satellites around a large sample of KBOs for which we can obtain sufficient signal-to-noise and angular separation to robustly detect Charon-analog satellites. The time is right to invest in such a large survey: our preliminary HST search for satellites is just being completed and has demonstrated a highly successful observing strategy; the number of bright KBOs has now increased to the point where a statistically meaningful sample can be observed; and many studies of KBO properties and history will benefit greatly from having a concrete knowledge of KBO masses. We are performing complementary deep searches around each of these KBOs with Keck, but only HST resolution will allow us to probe the inner 0.5 arcseconds where we expect collisionally formed satellites analogous to Charon to appear. We have carefully constructed a program optimized to detect any such very close satellites.
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