DEEP Drilling into the Kuiper Belt: The DECam Ecliptic Exploration Project

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This work will complete the DECam Ecliptic Exploration Project (DEEP). DEEP is an ongoing ground-based telescopic survey of Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). Observing the faintest objects yet found in the outer solar system, DEEP will likely discover 6,000 – 10,000 TNOs. As of today, all surveys of the Outer Solar System have yielded approximately 2,000 TNOs combined. DEEP will observe many of the faintest TNOs down to diameters of ~50 km. Until now, these faint TNOs have been under-represented in surveys due to the difficulty in observing them. The survey will also discover approximately 100,000 asteroids throughout the Solar System. This unprecedented trove of TNOs will yield new insights into Solar System evolution and its origins. This work will complete a graduate student’s PhD and will involve a number of undergraduate students through the University of Michigan’s REU program. The team is also working with UM’s Natural History Museum on an exhibit based on this work.The DECam Ecliptic Exploration Project (DEEP) has been awarded 46.5 nights on the 4-meter Blanco Telescope at CTIO. Science operations began in 2019 with 8.5 nights, and will continue in 2020 and 2021. DEEP will acquire 4-hour exposure sequences of near-ecliptic fields, reaching a depth of 24.5 mag in single exposures and nearly 27.0 mag in co-added stacks. Using established shift-and-stack techniques, DEEP will discover thousands of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). A proof-of-concept analysis in early DEEP data yielded 80 TNOs with SNR15 in a single 4-hour DEEP exposure sequence, implying an eventual yield of 6,000-10,000 discoveries with SNR5-10 even without improvements to the team’s existing tools. The team will measure the TNO size distribution down to ~50 km, measure colors and rotation rates of many objects as a function of their dynamical class and discover distant objects beyond the Kuiper Belt.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.