Detecting a small Kuiper Belt object using archival data of HST's Fine Guidance Sensor
Abstract
The Kuiper Belt is a remnant of the primordial Solar System. Measurements of its size distribution constrain its accretion and collisional history, and the importance of material strength of Kuiper Belt objects. Small, sub-kilometer-sized, Kuiper Belt objects elude direct detection, but the signature of their occultations of background stars should be detectable. Such an occultation event lasts typically a fraction of a second, thus making it a classical high time-resolution observation. Here we report an analysis of archival data of HST's Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS), that reveals an occultation by such a small object. The detection introduces the FGS as a valuable HTRA instrument. We discuss the statistical aspects regarding the validation of the detection claim, and its physical implications.
Additional Information
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Published - HTRA-IV_024.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 89135
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20180824-100033196
- Created
-
2018-08-28Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Series Name
- Proceedings of Science
- Series Volume or Issue Number
- 108