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TAOS: Taiwan-American Occultation Survey of Comet-Sized Objects in the Kuiper BeltSeveral dozen minor planets with radii greater than 100 km have been detected beyond Neptune using large telescopes. The TAOS project is to measure directly the number of these KBOs (Kuiper Belt Objects) down to the typical size of cometary nuclei (a few km) and out as far as approximately 100 AU from the Sun. Because of their large distance, small sizes and presumed low albedos, these target objects are extremely faint. Three 50 cm wide field robotic telescopes with 2048 x 2048 CCD cameras will be deployed along a 7 km east-west baseline in or near Jade Mountain National Park in Taiwan. They will monitor approximately 3000 stars for occultations by KBOs in a coincidence mode, so that the sequence and timing of the three separate blinkings can be used to distinguish real events from false alarms. Follow-up imaging observations using large telescopes will yield albedos and orbits for some of the larger objects detected by TAOS. A fourth telescope on a north-south spur to refine the size information on occulting GABON is also being contemplated.
Document ID
20020080612
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Lissauer, Jack
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
DeVincenzi, Donald
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1999
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2nd talk: Dark Matter in the Solar System Conference
Location: Paris
Country: France
Start Date: May 5, 1999
End Date: May 27, 1999
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: RTOP 344-30-50-01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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