Properties of the Distant Kuiper Belt: Results from the Palomar Distant Solar System Survey

TL;DR

This survey used the Palomar Telescope to discover distant Kuiper belt objects, providing insights into the population beyond Neptune and implications for the Sun's early stellar environment.

Contribution

First wide-field survey to extensively search for the most distant Kuiper belt objects and analyze their implications for the early Solar System environment.

Findings

Detected 52 KBOs and Centaurs, including 25 new discoveries.

No additional Sedna-like bodies beyond 45 AU were found.

Constraints on the Sun's birth cluster size based on Sedna-like orbit distribution.

Abstract

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-detection of Sedna, no additional Sedna-like bodies with perihelia greater than 45 AU were detected despite sensitivity out to distances of 1000 AU. We discuss the implications for a distant Sedna- like population beyond the Kuiper belt, focusing on the constraints we can place on the embedded stellar cluster environment the early Sun may be have been born in, where the location and distribution of Sedna-like orbits sculpted by multiple stellar encounters is indicative of the birth cluster size. We also report our observed latitude distribution and implications for the size of the plutino population.