Detection of Close Kuiper Belt Binaries with HST WFC3
Simon B. Porter,
Susan D. Benecchi,
Anne J. Verbiscer
et al.
Abstract:Binaries in the Kuiper Belt are common. Here we present our analysis of the Solar System Origins Legacy Survey (SSOLS) to show that using a point-spread function (PSF)-fitting method can roughly double the number of binaries identified in that data set. Out of 198 Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) observed by SSOLS, we find 23 to be visually separated binaries, while a further 19 are blended PSF binaries detectable with the method we present here. This is an overall binary fraction of 21% for the SSOLS data set of co… Show more
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