Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: We analyzed data from the first year of a survey for Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) that we are carrying out with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the 4 m Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. We implanted synthetic NEOs into the data stream to derive our nightly detection efficiency as a function of magnitude and rate of motion. Using these measured efficiencies and the solar system absolute magnitudes derived by the Minor Planet Center for the 1377 measurements of 235 unique NEOs detected, we directly derive, for the first time from a single observational data set, the NEO size distribution from 1 km down to 10 m. We find that there are NEOs larger than 10 m. This result implies a factor of 10 fewer small NEOs than some previous results, though our derived size distribution is in good agreement with several other estimates.
Source: The Astronomical Journal
Authors: D. E. Trilling, F. Valdes, L. Allen, D. James, C. Fuentes, D. Herrera, T. Axelrod, J. Rajagopal
Language: English
Topic: Astro and Planetary Science
Subfield: Space and Planetary Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, University of Pennsylvania, Ohio State University, University of Chicago, University of Portsmouth, University College London, University of Sussex, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos, Institut de Física d'Altes Energies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Integrated Electronics Engineering Center, Binghamton University, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
OpenAlex ID: W2734482436