The Kuiper Belt Explored by Serendipitous Stellar Occultations
The Kuiper Belt Explored by Serendipitous Stellar Occultations
复制标题
偶然的恒星掩星探索柯伊伯带
DOI：
10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11729.x
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发表时间：
2008
影响因子：
4.8
通讯作者：
A. Doressoundiram
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
F. Roques;P. Observatory;G. Georgevits;A. Doressoundiram
通过寻找偶然的恒星掩星来探索柯伊伯带的可能性已经开发了好几年。这项技术有可能使柯伊伯带的探测范围缩小到半径小于千米的天体。高速测光观测提供了光变曲线，其中掩星信号表现为非常短暂的下降。视乎目标星的不同，掩星波形可能会呈现出菲涅耳衍射效应。必须仔细考虑星星的大小和掩星的几何形状，以根据柯伊伯带天体（KBO）的大小和距离解释掩星数据。本章介绍了专门用于这类研究的观测项目。最近有三个这样的项目宣布了积极的检测结果。这些第一批结果被简要地描述，沿着的信息的数据可能提供。这些活动的潜在结果可能有助于回答许多关于柯伊伯带的问题，它的性质，以及它与奥尔特云的关系：是否存在一个扩展的“冷”柯伊伯带？柯伊伯盘的大小分布是什么？KBO种群的最大规模是否随距离的增加而减少？柯伊伯带的径向范围是多少？与奥尔特云有联系吗？柯伊伯带的质量是多少？KBO中有多少是二进制文件？较小的KBO是规则的还是细长的？这些程序也应该为试图模拟太阳系形成的理论家提供有价值的数据。
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.