New Horizons: Long-Range Kuiper Belt Targets Observed by the Hubble Space Telescope

TL;DR

This paper reports Hubble Space Telescope observations of three Kuiper Belt Objects, providing precise astrometry and color measurements crucial for potential New Horizons spacecraft encounters, and characterizes their physical properties.

Contribution

It offers new high-precision astrometry and color data for three distant KBOs, aiding future spacecraft targeting and understanding of their physical characteristics.

Findings

All three KBOs have red colors typical of Cold Classical objects.

None of the objects are observed to be binary within the detection limits.

The objects are among the faintest KBOs with measured colors.

Abstract

We report on Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of three Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), discovered in our dedicated ground-based search campaign, that are candidates for long-range observations from the New Horizons spacecraft: 2011 JY31, 2011 HZ102, and 2013 LU35. Astrometry with HST enables both current and future critical accuracy improvements for orbit precision, required for possible New Horizons observations, beyond what can be obtained from the ground. Photometric colors of all three objects are red, typical of the Cold Classical dynamical population within which they reside; they are also the faintest KBOs to have had their colors measured. None are observed to be binary with HST above separations of ~0.02 arcsec (~700 km at 44 AU) and {\Delta}m less than or equal to 0.5.