TRANS-NEPTUNIAN OBJECTS WITH HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE ACS/WFC

Journal Article · Wed Oct 20 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/722/2/1290· OSTI ID:21464620

Fuentes, Cesar I; Holman, Matthew J; Protopapas, Pavlos ^[1]

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1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

We introduce a novel search technique that can identify trans-Neptunian objects in three to five exposures of a pointing within a single Hubble Space Telescope (HST) orbit. The process is fast enough to allow the discovery of candidates soon after the data are available. This allows sufficient time to schedule follow-up observations with HST within a month. We report the discovery of 14 slow-moving objects found within 5{sup 0} of the ecliptic in archival data taken with the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys. The luminosity function of these objects is consistent with previous ground-based and space-based results. We show evidence that the size distribution of both high and low inclination populations is similar for objects smaller than 100 km, as expected from collisional evolution models, while their size distribution differs for brighter objects. We suggest that the two populations formed in different parts of the protoplanetary disk and after being dynamically mixed have collisionally evolved together. Among the objects discovered there is an equal-mass binary with an angular separation {approx}0.''53.

• OSTI ID: 21464620
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 722; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
EVOLUTION
INCLINATION
LUMINOSITY
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLANETS
PROTOPLANETS
SATELLITES
SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION
TELESCOPES