Population of the Scattered Kuiper Belt

We present the discovery of three new scattered Kuiper Belt objects (SKBOs) from a wide-field survey of the ecliptic. This continuing survey has to date covered 20.2 deg² to a limiting red magnitude of 23.6. We combine the data from this new survey with an existing survey conducted at the University of Hawaii 2.2 m telescope to constrain the number and mass of the SKBOs. The SKBOs are characterized by large eccentricities, perihelia near 35 AU, and semimajor axes greater than 50 AU. Using a maximum likelihood model, we estimate the total number of SKBOs larger than 100 km in diameter to be N=(3.1^+1.9_-1.3)×10⁴ (1 σ errors) and the total mass of SKBOs to be M~0.05 M_⊕, demonstrating that the SKBOs are similar in number and mass to the Kuiper Belt inside 50 AU.

Based on observations collected at Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, which is operated by the National Research Council of Canada, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique de France, and the University of Hawaii.