Kuiper Belt Object Sizes and Distances from Occultation Observations
@article{Cooray2003KuiperBO, title={Kuiper Belt Object Sizes and Distances from Occultation Observations}, author={Asantha Cooray}, journal={The Astrophysical Journal Letters}, year={2003}, volume={589}, pages={L97 - L100} }
There are several observational campaigns underway to detect kilometer-sized foreground Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) through their occultation of background stars. The interpretation of an occultation light curve, unfortunately, is affected by a geometric degeneracy such that one is unable to determine the KBO size independently of its distance. This degeneracy can be broken through a precise measurement of the relative velocity obtained from simultaneous observations of individual events. While…
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