Search for serendipitous TNO occultation in X-rays

To study the population properties of small, remote objects beyond Neptune's orbit in the outer solar system, of kilometer size or smaller, serendipitous occultation search is so far the only way. For hectometer-sized Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), optical shadows actually disappear because of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2012-11
Main Authors: Hsiang-Kuang Chang, Chih-Yuan, Liu, Kuan-Ting, Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dependence
Neptune
Occultation
Outer solar system
Pluto
Searching
Size distribution
Solar system
Trans-Neptunian objects
Wave diffraction
X ray sources
X-rays
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Summary:To study the population properties of small, remote objects beyond Neptune's orbit in the outer solar system, of kilometer size or smaller, serendipitous occultation search is so far the only way. For hectometer-sized Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), optical shadows actually disappear because of diffraction. Observations at shorter wave lengths are needed. Here we report the effort of TNO occultation search in X-rays using RXTE/PCA data of Sco X-1 taken from June 2007 to October 2011. No definite TNO occultation events were found in the 334 ks data. We investigate the detection efficiency dependence on the TNO size to better define the sensible size range of our approach and suggest upper limits to the TNO size distribution in the size range from 30 m to 300 m. A list of X-ray sources suitable for future larger facilities to observe is proposed.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1211.4650