NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2012A-0569
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2012A-0569 |
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PI: Scott Sheppard, Carnegie Institution of Washington, sheppard@dtm.ciw.edu
Address: Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, 5241 Broad Branch Rd. NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA
CoI: Chad Trujillo, Gemini Observatory
Title: Beyond the Kuiper Belt Edge
Abstract:
Of the thousands of known objects beyond Neptune, only one has a
perihelion significantly beyond 50 AU, Sedna at 75 AU. Kuiper Belt
surveys to date have not been optimized to survey beyond the Kuiper Belt
edge at 50 AU. Most of these surveys either did not go faint enough,
did not have the required long cadence to detect very slow moving
objects or covered too small of an area of sky. The dynamical and
physical properties of objects in this region offer key constraints on
the formation and evolution of our solar system. In order to probe the
Sedna like population of objects with moderate radii (100 km) we propose
a medium wide-field outer solar system survey. This survey will allow
us to determine if the objects beyond 50 AU are fainter than expected,
if there is truly a dearth of objects, or if the Kuiper Belt continues
again after some sizable gap possibly caused by a planet sized object.
We will be able to examine the origin of Sedna and determine if this
eccentric, distant body is unique (as once believed for Pluto) or just
the first of a new class of object in the outer Solar System.
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 > 2012A-0569 |
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