The Deep Ecliptic Survey: A Search for Kuiper Belt Objects and Centaurs. II. Dynamical Classification, the Kuiper Belt Plane, and the Core Population

Elliot, J. L.; Kern, S.; Clancy, K. B.; Gulbis, A. A. S.; Millis, R. L.; Buie, M. W.; Wasserman, L. H.; Chiang, Eugene; Jordán, Andrés; Trilling, David E.; Meech, К. J.

doi:10.1086/427395

Cited by 264 publications

(278 citation statements)

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“…The implied surface density for KBOs with radii larger than 250 m is 7.7 × 10 6 deg −2 at b = 5.5 • , which is the ecliptic latitude of the RXTE observations of Scorpius X-1, and it is 4.4 × 10 6 deg −2 for 8 • < |b| < 20 • . (31). Note, we assumed that the KBO ecliptic latitude distribution is symmetric about the ecliptic and ignored the small ∼ 1.6 • inclination of the Kuiper belt plane (31) relative to the ecliptic.…”

Section: Calculating the Kbo Surface Densitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(31). Note, we assumed that the KBO ecliptic latitude distribution is symmetric about the ecliptic and ignored the small ∼ 1.6 • inclination of the Kuiper belt plane (31) relative to the ecliptic. For our survey, there is ∼ 60% probability that KBO occultations will occur inside the low-inclination core region (|b| < 4 • ) of the Kuiper belt.…”

Section: Calculating the Kbo Surface Densitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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A single sub-kilometre Kuiper belt object from a stellar occultation in archival data

Schlichting

Ofek

Wenz

et al. 2009

Nature

147

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The Kuiper belt is a remnant of the primordial Solar System. Measurements of its size distribution constrain its accretion and collisional history, and the importance of material strength of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs)(1; 2; 3; 4). Small, sub-km sized, KBOs elude direct detection, but the signature of their occultations of background stars should be detectable (5; 6; 7; 8; 9). Observations at both optical(10) and Xray(11) wavelengths claim to have detected such occultations, but their implied KBO abundances are inconsistent with each other and far exceed theoretical expectations. Here, we report an analysis of archival data that reveals an occultation by a body with a ∼500 m radius at a distance of 45 AU. The probability of this event to occur due to random statistical fluctuations within our data set is about 2%. Our survey yields a surface density of KBOs with radii larger than 250 m of 2.1 +4.8 −1.7 × 10 7 deg −2 , ruling out inferred surface densities from previous claimed detections by more than 5 σ. The fact that we detected only one event, firmly shows a deficit of sub-km sized KBOs compared to a population extrapolated from objects with r > 50 km. This implies that sub-km-sized KBOs are undergoing collisional erosion, just like debris disks observed around other stars.A small KBO crossing the line of sight to a star will partially obscure the stellar light, an event which can be detected in the star's light curve. For visible light, the characteristic scale of diffraction effects, known as the Fresnel scale, is given by (λa/2) 1/2 ∼ 1.3 km, where a ∼ 40 AU is the distance to the Kuiper belt and λ ∼ 600 nm is the wavelength of our observations. Diffraction effects will be apparent in the star's light curve due to occulting KBOs provided that both star and the occulting object are smaller than the Fresnel scale (12; 13). Occultations by objects smaller than the Fresnel scale are in the Fraunhofer regime. In this regime the diffraction pattern is determined by the size of the KBO and its distance -2 -to the observer, the angular size of the star, the wavelength range of the observations and the impact parameter between the star and the KBO (see Supplementary Information for details). The duration of the occultation is approximately given by the ratio of the Fresnel scale to the relative velocity perpendicular to the line of sight between the observer and the KBO. Since the relative velocity is usually dominated by the Earth's velocity around the Sun, which is 30 km s −1 , typical occultations only last of order of a tenth of a second.Extensive ground based efforts have been conducted to look for optical occultations (10; 9; 14; 15). To date, these visible searches have announced no detections in the region of the Kuiper belt (30-60 AU), but one of these quests claims to have detected some events beyond 100 AU and at about 15 AU (10). Unfortunately, ground based surveys may suffer from a high rate of false-positives due to atmospheric scintillation, and lack the stability of space based platforms. The ground ...

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Section: Calculating the Kbo Surface Densitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Calculating the Kbo Surface Densitymentioning

confidence: 99%

A single sub-kilometre Kuiper belt object from a stellar occultation in archival data

Schlichting

Ofek

Wenz

et al. 2009

Nature

147

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“…Like the other major reservoir of small bodies in the solar system, the asteroid belt, the Kuiper Belt has a complex structure that can be used to constrain theories of solar system formation. Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs; also known as trans-Neptunian objects or TNOs) can be divided into several distinct populations (e.g., Elliot et al 2005;Gladman et al 2008), with different histories, dynamics, and physical properties. A complete understanding of the varied properties of these populations requires constraints on the history of collisions among their members.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Collisional Families in the Kuiper Belt

Marcus

Ragozzine

Murray-Clay

et al. 2011

ApJ

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The identification and characterization of numerous collisional families-clusters of bodies with a common collisional origin-in the asteroid belt has added greatly to the understanding of asteroid belt formation and evolution. More recent study has also led to an appreciation of physical processes that had previously been neglected (e.g., the Yarkovsky effect). Collisions have certainly played an important role in the evolution of the Kuiper Belt as well, though only one collisional family has been identified in that region to date, around the dwarf planet Haumea. In this paper, we combine insights into collisional families from numerical simulations with the current observational constraints on the dynamical structure of the Kuiper Belt to investigate the ideal sizes and locations for identifying collisional families. We find that larger progenitors (r ∼ 500 km) result in more easily identifiable families, given the difficulty in identifying fragments of smaller progenitors in magnitude-limited surveys, despite their larger spread and less frequent occurrence. However, even these families do not stand out well from the background. Identifying families as statistical overdensities is much easier than characterizing families by distinguishing individual members from interlopers. Such identification seems promising, provided the background population is well known. In either case, families will also be much easier to study where the background population is small, i.e., at high inclinations. Overall, our results indicate that entirely different techniques for identifying families will be needed for the Kuiper Belt, and we provide some suggestions.

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“…The Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES; Millis et al 2002) adopts a broader definition of Centaurs that includes these objects as well: "nonresonant objects whose osculating perihelia are less than the osculating semimajor axis of Neptune at any time during the integration" (Elliot et al 2005). We note that a more consistent definition would also include objects with perihelia that come within Neptune's Hill radius of its osculating aphelion, although this is a minor quibble.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%