Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2009-10-30
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
6 pages, 6 figures, Proc. Workshop "The Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics: Revealing the Origins of Plan
Scientific paper
One of the most fundamental problems in the study of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) is to know their true physical size. Without knowledge of their albedos we are not able to distinguish large and dark from small and bright KBOs. Spitzer produced rough estimates of the sizes and albedos of about 20 KBOs, and the Herschel space telescope will improve on those initial measurements by extending the sample to the ~150 brightest KBOs. SPICA's higher sensitivity instruments should allow us not only to broaden the sample to smaller KBOs but also to achieve a statistically significant sample of KBO thermal light curves (Herschel will measure only six objects). A large sample covering a broad range of sizes will be key to identify meaningful correlations between size and other physical and surface properties that constrain the processes of formation and evolution of the solar system.
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