Detecting Interstellar Objects through Stellar Occultations
Abstract
Stellar occultations have been used to search for Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud objects. We propose a search for interstellar objects based on the characteristic durations (∼0.1 s) of their stellar occultation signals and high inclination relative to the ecliptic plane. An all-sky monitoring program of all ∼7 × 106 stars with R ≲ 12.5 using 1-m telescopes with 0.1 s cadences is predicted to discover ∼1 interstellar object per year.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- March 2020
- DOI:
- 10.3847/2041-8213/ab74d9
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2001.02681
- Bibcode:
- 2020ApJ...891L...3S
- Keywords:
-
- None;
- Asteroids;
- Meteors;
- Stellar occultation;
- 1065;
- 72;
- 1041;
- 2135;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table