The project to map dark energy in the southern sky has exceeded expectations. It turns out that Dark Energy Research was also able to identify really small space objects beyond Neptune.
In the first four years of data, astronomers have successfully identified 316 minor planets, 139 of which are brand new.
According to scientists, the discoveries were made after intensive analysis of data using new methods that could help find more minor planets in the far reaches of the solar system. They may even help in the search for the mysterious Ninth Planet, believed to be hiding in the dark.
The Dark Energy Survey itself has officially ended. It ran from August 2013 to January 2019, collecting five and a half years of infrared and near infrared data in the southern sky. He studied a number of objects and phenomena, such as supernovae and galaxy clusters, to try to calculate the acceleration of the expansion of the universe, which is believed to be influenced by dark energy.
But a high degree of depth, breadth and accuracy of the survey proved to be useful for another: the definition of distant minor planets, a category of objects that includes almost everything that is not a planet or a comet – from asteroids to dwarf planets.
We know that beyond the orbit of Neptune, at a distance of about 4.5 billion kilometers from the Sun, there are many cosmic.
But these trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are difficult to detect. They are very small and very distant, and the area they are in is quite dark, so they don't have much light to reflect.
This is where something that can perform detailed observations of large areas of the sky comes in handy.
Since TNOs move differently from galaxies and supernova remnants, the team had to find a way to reconstruct these movements based on data from the dark energy survey. They started with 7 billion points above the background data noise that could have been possible object detection.
The team then ruled out objects that had been in the same location for several nights, indicating that they did not move like TNO. And the next step was to identify the grouped objects in order to figure out how they move. All of these steps resulted in a roster of 400 candidates who appeared for at least six nights and then had to be screened.
It was very meticulous and painstaking work and it paid off. The team identified 316 trans-Neptunian objects – 139 of which are newly discovered.
Together, 139 new objects add a hefty proportion to the database of about 3000 known TNOs. So this is a pretty effective way to identify these elusive cosmic bodies.
With luck, astronomers may even come across evidence of the existence of Planet Nine, a large body believed to orbit about 200 AU away.
“There are many ideas about giant planets that were previously in the solar system and no longer exist, or planets that are far away and massive, but too dark for us to notice,” Bernstein said.
The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series.
Sources: Photo: Alex Parker OSSOS team
