Physics
Scientific paper
Aug 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997phdt........12c&link_type=abstract
Thesis (PHD). UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII , Source DAI-B 58/07, p. 3687, Jan 1998, 161 pages.
Physics
Jovian Trojans, Kuiper Belt Objects, Centaurs
Scientific paper
Jovian Trojans, 'Trojans' of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune (Lagrangian objects, in the language of this dissertation), Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) and Centaurs are believed to be the pristine bodies in the solar system. This thesis project describes a search for, and investigation of, these primitive objects using state-of-the-art charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras. With a CCD, 93 Jovian L4 Trojans with sizes ranging from ~4 km to 40 km diameter were discovered. The cumulative magnitude-frequency distribution is found to have slope of 0.397 ± 0.008 and the bias corrected mean inclination is 13o.7 ± 0o.5. The total number of the L4 Trojans, the size and total mass of the L4 cloud are discussed. My study shows that the previously suggested leakage rate of Trojans may be overestimated and that Trojans can not be a significant source of short period comets. No Lagrangian objects were discovered in this project. Instead, the 99% confidence level (~3/ σ) upper limits to their surface densities are given. Larger sky needs to be covered before the existence of such objects can be concluded. Nevertheless, the current survey shows that the surface density of Saturnian 'Trojans' is lower than that of Jovian Trojans. In addition, 16 published and 12 yet to be published KBOs were discovered in this project, as well as one Centaur. The dynamical properties of 42 published KBOs and 7 Centaurs are studied and their photometric properties are discussed. Our study shows that there is no discrepancy between the numbers of discovered Centaurs and those of KBOs as some suggested.
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