The Small Numbers of Large Kuiper Belt Objects

Abstract

We explore the brightness distribution of the largest and brightest (m(R)<22) Kuiper belt objects (KBOs). We construct a luminosity function of the dynamically excited or hot Kuiper belt (orbits with inclinations > 5 degrees) from the very brightest to m(R)=23. We find for m(R)< 23, a single slope appears to describe the luminosity function. We estimate ~12 KBOs brighter than m(R)~19.5 are present in the Kuiper belt today. With 9 bodies already discovered this suggests that the inventory of bright KBOs is nearly complete.

Accepted to AJ

References in corpus (6)

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• A serendipitous all sky survey for bright objects in the outer solar system
• A dwarf planet class object in the 21:5 resonance with Neptune
• Limits on the number of primordial Scattered Disk objects at Pluto mass and higher from the absence of their dynamical signatures on the present day trans-Neptunian Populations
• A Pluto-Charon Concerto: An Impact on Charon as the Origin of the Small Satellites
• Influence of the Centaurs and TNOs on the main belt and its families
• A dynamical survey of the trans-Neptunian region I.: Mean-motion resonances with Neptune
• Long-term Dynamical Stability in the Outer Solar System I: The Regular and Chaotic Evolution of the 34 Largest Trans-Neptunian Objects