Search for serendipitous TNO occultation events in X-rays with Athena
Abstract
Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), which include Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and yet-to-discover Oort Cloud Objects, are an important population of members of the solar system. Its population properties, such as size distribution, carry information imprinted during the early epoch of the solar system formation. TNOs smaller than about ten kilometers are not directly observable. Their existence, however, may be detected through occultation events of background targets that they cause. Search for such serendipitous occultation events have been conducted in optical and X-ray bands. Since the Fresnel scale is about 30 times smaller in X-rays, using X-ray occultation events one may explore TNOs smaller than that can be done in optical bands. Here I will report X-ray sources suitable for such a study with Athena observations. The estimated Athena detection rate of occultation events, based on different model assumptions of TNO size distribution, will also be presented.
- Publication:
-
Exploring the Hot and Energetic Universe: The first scientific conference dedicated to the Athena X-ray observatory
- Pub Date:
- September 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015eheu.conf...56C