Related papers: Measuring the Sizes, Shapes, Surface Features and …
We use thermal radiometry and visible photometry to constrain the size, shape, and albedo of the large Kuiper belt object Haumea. The correlation between the visible and thermal photometry demonstrates that Haumea's high amplitude and…
Knowledge of the Kuiper Belt is currently limited to those objects that can be detected directly. Objects with diameters less than $\sim$10km reflect too little light to be detected. These smaller bodies could contain most of the mass in…
Kuiper belt object 136108 Haumea is one of the most fascinating bodies in our solar system. Approximately 2000x1600x1000 km in size, it is one of the largest Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) and an unusually elongated one for its size. The shape…
The densities of mid-sized Kuiper belt objects are a key constraint into understanding the assembly of objects in the outer solar system. These objects are critical for understanding the currently unexplained transition from the smallest…
Thermal emission from Kuiper Belt object (136108) Haumea was measured with Herschel-PACS at 100 and 160 micrometers for almost a full rotation period. Observations clearly indicate a 100-micrometer thermal lightcurve with an amplitude of a…
Detecting heat from minor planets in the outer solar system is challenging, yet it is the most efficient means for constraining the albedos and sizes of Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and their progeny, the Centaur objects. These physical…
In order to perform high resolution astrometry of the solar diameter from the ground, through the observations of eclipses, the study of the limb darkening profile is described. Knowing the profile of the solar limb is useful both to…
Among the four known transneptunian dwarf planets, Haumea is an exotic, very elongated, and fast rotating body. In contrast to the other dwarf planets, its size, shape, albedo, and density are not well constrained. Here we report results of…
Among the growing number of small body rings in the solar system, the ring of Haumea has a special status as it is likely suitable for direct imaging in the visible and submillimeter wavelengths. In this paper, we highlight its sole…
One of the most fundamental problems in the study of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) is to know their true physical size. Without knowledge of their albedos we are not able to distinguish large and dark from small and bright KBOs. Spitzer…
We analyze an intensity interferometry measurement carried out with two point-like detectors facing a distant source (e.g., a star) that may be partially occluded by an absorptive object (e.g., a planet). Such a measurement, based on the…
We present a procedure for determination of positions and orbital elements, and associated uncertainties, of outer Solar System planets. The orbit-fitting procedure is greatly streamlined compared to traditional methods because acceleration…
We present a new near-infrared photometric system for detection of water ice and methane ice in the solar system. The system consists of two medium-band filters in the K-band region of the near-infrared, which are sensitive to water ice and…
Stellar occultations provide a powerful tool to explore objects of the outer solar system. The Gaia mission now provides milli-arcsec accuracy on the predictions of these events and makes possible observations that were previously…
A discussion of the solar diameter and its variations must be linked to the limb darkening function (LDF). We introduce a new method to perform high resolution astrometry of the solar diameter from the ground, through the observations of…
We present time-resolved near-infrared (J and H) photometry of the extreme Kuiper belt object (136108) Haumea (formerly 2003 EL61) taken to further investigate rotational variability of this object. The new data show that the near-infrared…
A recent occultation measurement of the dwarf planet Haumea (Ortiz et al. 2017) revealed an elongated shape with the longest axis comparable to Pluto's mean diameter. The chords also indicate a ring around Haumea's equatorial plane, where…
The serendipitous detection of stellar occultations by Outer Solar System objects is a powerful method for ascertaining the small end ($r \lesssim 15$ km) of the size distribution of Kuiper Belt Objects and may potentially allow the…
Existing and planned optical telescopes and surveys can detect artificially-illuminated objects comparable in total brightness to a major terrestrial city out to the outskirts of the Solar System. Orbital parameters of Kuiper belt objects…
We present an analysis of surveying the inner Solar System for objects that may pose some threat to the Earth. Most of the analysis is based on understanding the capability provided by Sentinel, a concept for an infrared space-based…