Other
Scientific paper
Sep 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004sptz.prop.3283b&link_type=abstract
Spitzer Proposal ID #3283
Other
Scientific paper
The last two years have seen an explosion in the discoveries of what is essentially a previously unknown class of solar system objects: the icy planetoids of the outer solar system. These objects -- Kuiper belt objects with diameters greater than 500 km -- bear more resemblance to Pluto and to the icy satellites of the giant planets than they do to cometary nuclei. GTO surveys have concentrated on the modest-sized Kuiper belt objects and the icy satellites. The icy planetoids -- generally unknown at the time the GTO lists were frozen --remain largely unexamined. These poorly understood bodies provide an ideal laboratory for the study of the chemical, geophysical, and accretional evolution of the outer solar system. We propose a comprehensive program designed to take advantage of the unique capabilities of Spitzer to study the size-distribution, differentiation, and chemical evolution of this unique class of icy planetoids. All 14 currently known icy planetoids have been detected in our ongoing large-scale survey of the outer solar system; we continue to discover new objects this size at the rate of approximately one every other month. Our total target list thus includes all 20 planetoids that will be known during this cycle. Critically, this sample of icy planetoids is known to be complete to 45 AU: our survey has detected all objects with an absolute magnitude less than 4.8 (9% albedo size of 500 km) out to a heliocentric distance of 45 AU within the 4000 square degrees covered (which includes most of the sky within 7 degrees of the ecliptic). Such a carefully selected sample is critical for accurate interpretation of many of the results of a survey such as this and is only possible with a sample chosen from a carefully controlled survey. With these observations and the ground-based auxiliary observations we are obtaining, we will have a comprehensive picture of these poorly studied icy planetoids which dominate the outer solar system.
Barkume Kristina
Brown Michael
Reach Bill
Stansberry John
Trujillo Chad
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