The TAOS Project: Upper Bounds on the Population of Small KBOs and Tests of Models of Formation and Evolution of the Outer Solar System

TL;DR

This study uses TAOS data to set upper limits on small Kuiper Belt Object populations, testing formation and evolution models, and suggesting low internal strength objects and planetary migration influence.

Contribution

First detailed comparison of KBO size distribution models with occultation survey data, constraining model parameters and providing insights into KBO properties.

Findings

No occultation events detected in 3.75 years of data.

Constraints placed on KBO size distribution models.

Evidence suggests low internal strength of KBOs and impact of planetary migration.

Abstract

We have analyzed the first 3.75 years of data from TAOS, the Taiwanese American Occultation Survey. TAOS monitors bright stars to search for occultations by Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). This dataset comprises 5e5 star-hours of multi-telescope photometric data taken at 4 or 5 Hz. No events consistent with KBO occultations were found in this dataset. We compute the number of events expected for the Kuiper Belt formation and evolution models of Pan & Sari (2005), Kenyon & Bromley (2004), Benavidez & Campo Bagatin (2009), and Fraser (2009). A comparison with the upper limits we derive from our data constrains the parameter space of these models. This is the first detailed comparison of models of the KBO size distribution with data from an occultation survey. Our results suggest that the KBO population is comprised of objects with low internal strength and that planetary migration played a role in the shaping of the size distribution.