Authors
David Jewitt, Jane Luu, Chadwick Trujillo
Publication date
1998/5/1
Journal
The Astronomical Journal
Volume
115
Issue
5
Pages
2125
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Description
We describe a large-area ecliptic survey designed to assess the sky-plane surface density of bright Kuiper Belt objects. We used an 8192× 8192 pixel CCD mosaic to image 51.5 deg 2 to a 50% detection threshold red magnitude m R= 22.5. Thirteen new Kuiper Belt objects were identified in the survey, including some of the brightest and, presumably, largest known examples. We use Monte Carlo models to assess the effects of observational bias in our survey and to examine (1) the size distribution of bright objects in the Kuiper Belt,(2) the possible existence of a cutoff in the size distribution at large radii,(3) the intrinsic ratio of Plutinos to nonresonant (" classical") Kuiper Belt objects,(4) the intrinsic ratio of populations in the 3: 2 and 2: 1 mean motion resonances, and (5) the radial extent of the Kuiper Belt.
Total citations
19981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202461620172817125117191110566355172105111
Scholar articles