The compositions of outer Solar System icy surfaces from ultra-low resolution spectroscopy

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The long-standing question of how our Solar System reached its current configuration can be addressed by a range of theoretical models, each of which makes predictions about the origins of the small bodies of the outer Solar System. The compositions of those small bodies, which are indicators of their origins, are usually studied using either broadband photometry, which has low diagnostic power, or spectroscopy, which is highly diagnostic but expensive. The Principal Investigator (PI) and his team will use a novel technique of ultra-low resolution spectroscopy to measure the icy surface compositions of outer Solar System objects. In this technique the ultra-low resolution spectra are heavily binned into custom "pseudo-filters," allowing for rapid diagnostic measurements. The team will conduct a large-scale survey, using telescopes in Hawaii, Chile, and South Africa, to determine the surface compositions of some 250 outer Solar System bodies-- the largest such survey to date. The results will place strong constraints on the evolution of the outer Solar System and the dynamical flow of material within and from the Kuiper Belt. Broader impacts include the commissioning of new observing modes on several telescopes; visits by the PI to schools in South Africa during his sabbatical in Year 2 of the project; and efforts to establish cross-cultural connections between South African schools and US counterparts in Arizona.