A Search for Distant Solar System Bodies in the Region of Sedna
نویسندگان
چکیده
We present the results of a wide-field survey for distant Sedna-like bodies in the outer solar system using the 1.2-m Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory. We searched ∼12,000 square degrees down to a mean limiting magnitude of 21.3 in R. A total number of 53 Kuiper belt objects and Centaurs have been detected; 25 of which were discovered in this survey. No additional Sedna-like bodies with perihelia beyond 70 AU were found despite a sensitivity to motions out to ∼1000 AU. We place constraints on the size and distribution of objects on Sedna orbits. Subject headings: Kuiper Belt Oort Cloud solar system: formation
منابع مشابه
Properties of the Distant Kuiper Belt: Results from the Palomar Distant Solar System Survey
We present the results of a wide-field survey using the 1.2-m Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory. This survey was designed to find the most distant members of the Kuiper belt and beyond. We searched ∼12,000 deg2 down to a mean limiting magnitude of 21.3 in R. A total number of 52 KBOs and Centaurs have been detected, 25 of which were discovered in this survey. Except for the re-dete...
متن کاملEvidence for a Distant Giant Planet in the Solar System
Recent analyses have shown that distant orbits within the scattered disk population of the Kuiper Belt exhibit an unexpected clustering in their respective arguments of perihelion. While several hypotheses have been put forward to explain this alignment, to date, a theoretical model that can successfully account for the observations remains elusive. In this work we show that the orbits of dista...
متن کاملChasing Shadows in the Outer Solar System
The characteristics of the populations of objects that inhabit the outer solar system carry the fingerprint of the processes that governed the formation and evolution of the solar system. Occultation surveys push the limit of observation into the very small and distant outer solar system objects, allowing us to set constraints on the structure of the Kuiper belt, Scattered disk and Sedna popula...
متن کاملNear-infrared Surface Properties of the Two Intrinsically Brightest Minor Planets: (90377) Sedna and (90482) Orcus
We present low-resolutionK-band spectra taken at the Gemini 8 m telescope of (90377) Sedna and (90482) Orcus (provisional designations 2003 VB12 and 2004 DW, respectively), currently the two minor planets with the greatest absolute magnitudes (i.e., the two most reflective minor planets). We place crude limits on the surface composition of these two bodies using a Hapke model for a wide variety...
متن کاملDiscovery of a candidate inner Oort cloud planetoid
We report the discovery of the minor planet 2003 VB12 (popularly named Sedna), the most distant object ever seen in the solar system. Pre-discovery images from 2001, 2002, and 2003 have allowed us to refine the orbit sufficiently to conclude that 2003 VB12 is on a highly eccentric orbit which permanently resides well beyond the Kuiper belt with a semimajor axis of 480±40 AU and a perihelion of ...
متن کامل