The Kuiper Belt Explored by Serendipitous Stellar Occultations
Abstract
The possibility of exploring the Kuiper belt by searching for fortuitous stellar occultations has been under development for several years. This technique has the potential to permit exploration of the Kuiper belt down to objects of subkilometer radius. High-speed photometric observations provide lightcurves in which the occultation signatures appear as very brief dips. Depending on the target stars, the occultation waveform may exhibit Fresnel diffraction effects. The star's size and the geometry of the occultation must be carefully taken into account to interpret the occultation data in terms of Kuiper belt object (KBO) size and distance. The observation programs dedicated to this type of research are described in this chapter. Three such programs have recently announced positive detections. These first results are described briefly, along with the information the data may provide. Potential results expected from these campaigns could help answer many questions concerning the Kuiper belt, its nature, and its relation with the Oort cloud: Is there an extended "cold" Kuiper belt? What is the size distribution for the Kuiper disk population? Is the maximum size of the KBO population decreasing with distance? What is the radial extent of the Kuiper belt? Is there a connection with the Oort cloud? What is the mass of the Kuiper belt? What fraction of KBOs are binaries? Are the smaller KBOs regular or elongated? These programs should also provide valuable data for theorists attempting to model solar system formation.
- Publication:
-
The Solar System Beyond Neptune
- Pub Date:
- 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008ssbn.book..545R