NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2001A-0253
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2001A-0253 |
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PI: Robert L. Millis, Lowell Observatory, rlm@lowell.edu
Address: 1400 W. Mars Hill Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86001
CoI: Marc W. Buie, Lowell Observatory
CoI: R. Mark Wagner, Ohio State University
CoI: James L. Elliot, MIT
CoI: Lawrence H. Wasserman, Lowell Observatory
CoI: Susan D. Kern, MIT
Title: Discovery of Faint Kuiper Belt Objects with the MOSIAC Cameras
Abstract:
In the past decade, a whole new populated region of the Solar System
has been discovered beyond the orbit of Neptune. Commonly referred to
as the Kuiper Belt, this zone, extending to as-yet-unknown distances
from the sun, contains tens of thousands of icy primordial bodies. The
Kuiper Belt is believed to be the source region of short-period comets
and is likely the analogue in our Solar System of circumstellar dust
disks seen around certain other stars. Moreover, the Kuiper Belt
Objects (KBOs) hold valuable clues to the dynamical and physical
evolution of the outer solar system. Since 1998, we have conducted a
survey of the content, dimensions, and structure of the Kuiper Belt
using the Mosaic Cameras at KPNO and CTIO. To date, we have discovered
149 KBOs and Centaurs (including several objects bright enough to permit
detailed physical studies), we have found evidence that the dynamical
properties of the KBOs are considerably more complex than originally
predicted, and we have discovered a number of particularly interesting
objects including one (2000CR105) whose orbit takes it to approximately
675 AU from the Sun. In this proposal, we request time in semester
2001A to continue our survey of the Kuiper Belt at the national
observatories.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2001A-0253 |
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