Development of Portable High-Speed Telescopes and Cameras for Studying Solar System Objects During Stellar Occultations

该计划将开发三个带有低噪声、高速探测器的望远镜，可以部署到世界各地观测掩星。掩星事件可以提供太阳系物体的最高空间分辨率，而不是近距离的航天器相遇。在接下来的几年里，有极好的机会来研究冥王星和海卫一快速演变的大气层。冥王星大气层的预测状态对冥王星-柯伊伯带任务2014-2016年相遇的测序计划至关重要。有机会以前所未有的空间和时间分辨率研究半人马天体。最后，最近对恒星位置星表和柯伊伯带天体(KBO)轨道测定的改进将使首次通过掩星精确测量KBO大小成为可能。科罗拉多大学和韦尔斯利学院的合作者将使用这些系统来培训下一代观测天文学家。观察结果和结果将向公众公布。

This program will develop three telescopes with low-noise, high-speed detectors that can be deployed to observe occultations around the world. Occultation events can provide the highest spatial resolution of solar system objects in lieu of a close spacecraft encounter. In the next few years there are excellent opportunities to study the rapidly evolving atmospheres of Pluto and Triton. The predicted state of Pluto's atmosphere is of paramount importance to the Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission's sequencing planning for its encounter in 2014-2016. There are opportunities to study centaur objects with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. Finally, recent improvements to stellar position catalogs and Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) orbit determinations will allow the first accurate measurements of KBO sizes via occultations. Collaborators at the University of Colorado and Wellesley College will use these systems to train the next generation of observational astronomers. The observations and results will be made available for public use.