| Detecting a Sub-kilometer Kuiper Belt Object in HST Archival Data |
| Shay Zucker |
| Department of Geophysics & Planetary Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel |
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Measurements of the size distribution of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs)
constrain their accretion and collisional history, and the importance
of material strength of KBOs. Small, sub-kilometer-sized, KBOs
obviously elude direct detection, but the signature of their
occultations of background stars should be detectable. Previous
claims of detection are controversial since their implications
contradict theoretical expectations. We report an analysis of
HST archival data that reveals an occultation by a body with an
approximately 500-meter radius at a distance of 45 AU.
We will discuss this detection, its significance and its implications.
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