The La Silla - QUEST Kuiper Belt Survey

TL;DR

This paper details the development and results of an automated all-sky survey for Kuiper Belt objects using the QUEST camera, leading to the discovery of 63 new KBOs and demonstrating high detection efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a new automated, all-sky Kuiper Belt survey with improved instrumentation and software, achieving high detection efficiency and discovering numerous new objects.

Findings

Detected 77 KBOs and Centaurs in ~7500 deg2

Discovered 63 new KBOs including a Haumea family member

Achieved over 80% search efficiency

Abstract

We describe the instrumentation and detection software and characterize the detection efficiency of an automated, all-sky, southern-hemisphere search for Kuiper Belt objects brighter than R mag 21.4. The search relies on Yale University's 160-Megapixel QUEST camera, previously used for successful surveys at Palomar that detected most of the distant dwarf planets, and now installed on the ESO 1.0-m Schmidt telescope at La Silla, Chile. Extensive upgrades were made to the telescope control system to support automation, and significant improvements were made to the camera. To date, 63 new KBOs have been discovered, including a new member of the Haumea collision family (2009 YE7) and a new distant object with inclination exceeding 70 deg (2010 WG9). In a survey covering ~7500 deg2, we have thus far detected 77 KBOs and Centaurs, more than any other full-hemisphere search to date. Using a pattern of dithered pointings, we demonstrate a search efficiency exceeding 80%. We are currently on track to complete the southern-sky survey and detect any bright KBOs that have eluded detection from the north.