A Search for Distant Solar System Bodies in the Region of Sedna

Abstract

We present the results of a wide-field survey for distant Sedna-like bodies in the outer solar system using the 1.2-m Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory. We searched ~12,000 square degrees down to a mean limiting magnitude of 21.3 in R. A total number of 53 Kuiper belt objects and Centaurs have been detected; 25 of which were discovered in this survey. No additional Sedna-like bodies with perihelia beyond 70 AU were found despite a sensitivity to motions out to ~1000 AU. We place constraints on the size and distribution of objects on Sedna orbits.

10 pages, 3 figures, accepted by ApJ Letters

References in corpus (3)

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• Long-term Dynamical Stability in the Outer Solar System I: The Regular and Chaotic Evolution of the 34 Largest Trans-Neptunian Objects