NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2009B-0336
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2009B-0336 |
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PI: Chadwick Trujillo, Gemini Observatory - North, trujillo@gemini.edu
Address: Gemini Observatory, 670 N. Aohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
CoI: Scott Sheppard, Carnegie Institution of Washington (Terrestrial Magn.)
CoI: Emily Schaller, University of Arizona (Lunar and Planetary Lab)
Title: Primordial Solar System Ices
Abstract:
The Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) may harbor the least thermally-altered
material in the solar system and are thought to be remnants of the
planet-forming era. Thus, study of their surfaces may lead to insights into
the composition and formation process of planets in our solar system. We
propose to continue the first KBO photometric survey sensitive to volatile
ices using a set of custom bandpass filters. In the past, JHK broadband
colors of KBOs have been collected by many researchers with inconclusive
results because such filters are tuned to avoid telluric features and bear
only weak correlations to absorption features found on the brightest KBOs. We
have designed custom bandpass filters that allow the classification of KBOs
into water, methane and featureless surface types. These filters were
installed and commissioned in 2008B for use at Gemini with NIRI and at
Magellan with PANIC. We continue our survey in this proposal. The survey is
the first of its kind and will identify many more KBOs with volatiles than
any previous spectral or photometric work.
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 > 2009B-0336 |
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