Deep Imaging of the Kuiper Belt with
the Keck 10-meter Telescope
Jane Luu and
David
Jewitt
Ap. J. Letters, 1998, 502, L91-94.
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Abstract
We present a new, pencil-beam survey of the
Kuiper Belt taken with the
Keck 10-meter telescope. The cumulative surface density of Kuiper Belt Objects
measured to apparent red magnitude m = 26.1 is 31(+12,-14) per
sq. deg., while to m = 26.6 it is 40 +/- 33 per sq. deg. These
numbers are compatible with an extrapolation of the luminosity function
deduced earlier from measurements in the 20 < m < 25 range
(Jewitt, Luu and Trujillo 1998), and confirm a Kuiper Belt power
law size distribution index q ~ 4.
In a Nutshell
The Kuiper Belt cumulative luminosity function
(CLF)
reflects both the distance and
the size distributions of the Kuiper Belt Objects. Measurements
of the CLF can be used to constrain both quantities. We used Keck
to survey the Kuiper Belt to faint limiting magnitudes, and find
complete consistency with our earlier results from smaller telescopes.
We find no evidence for the very high surface densities reported
from Hubble Space Telescope observations, and we discuss possible
interpretations of these observations.
Last updated May 16 1998