Collaborative Research: RECON, Probing the Outer Solar System with Occultations

合作研究：RECON，利用掩星探测外太阳系

• 批准号: 1413287
• 负责人: Marc Buie
• 金额: $ 79.4万
• 依托单位: Southwest Research Institute
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-15 至 2020-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1413287&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; RECON; Probing; Outer

This award funds work to expand a telescope network that was developed with a pilot project, and carry out observing campaigns to measure size and shapes of ten Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) in the outer solar system, and search for moons around them. TNOs are relatively small (diameters range from larger than Pluto to smaller than 100km) frozen bodies that orbit the Sun beyond Neptune's average distance, and formed at the same time as the rest of our solar system. The investigators plan to determine the TNO sizes by observing them as they pass in front of, and temporarily block, distant starlight. They will do this by using 40 telescopes spread out throughout the western United States with the help of 40 different communities of citizen scientists, whom they will teach and train in research methods with workshops and other education efforts. The data will be used to test models of solar system formation.The occultation diameters will also be used to provide cross-calibration of thermal radiometry-based diameters, extend the occultation sample down to 100 km objects, and improve knowledge of albedo distributions. The team will also constrain the binary fraction to a small smaller physical and angular separation than is currently possible with other surveys, and search for low-separation multiple component (moons) systems.

这笔资金用于扩大通过试点项目开发的望远镜网络，并开展观测活动，以测量太阳系外十个海王星外天体的大小和形状，并搜索它们周围的卫星。TNOS是相对较小的(直径从大于冥王星到小于100公里)冰冻天体，它们绕太阳运行，超出海王星的平均距离，并且与我们太阳系的其他部分同时形成。研究人员计划通过观察TNO从远处的星光前面经过并暂时阻挡它们来确定TNO的大小。他们将在40个不同的公民科学家社区的帮助下，使用分布在美国西部的40个望远镜来做到这一点，他们将通过研讨会和其他教育努力教授和培训研究方法。这些数据将被用来测试太阳系形成的模型。掩星直径也将被用来提供基于热辐射测量的直径的交叉校准，将掩星样本扩展到100公里的物体，并改善对反照率分布的了解。该团队还将把二元分数限制在比目前其他调查可能的物理和角间隔更小的范围内，并搜索低分离多组分(卫星)系统。