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R.L. Allen, B. Gladman (UBC), J.J. Kavelaars (HIA/NRC), J. Parker (SWRI), J-M. Petit (Obs. Besnacon)
The Very Wide component of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telesope Legacy Survey will image approximately 1000 square degrees of the ecliptic, with the goal of discovering about 1000 Kuiper Belt Objects and characterizing their orbital distribution. At present, about 152 square degrees have been covered with at least a 2 month observational baseline (out of a final 3 year baseline). Over 125 KBOs have been discovered in these fields, with a well- characterized discovery rate. The VW-CFHTLS has also been designed to provide an optimal recovery strategy and maximum ``legacy value'' for other purposes, with discovery observations occuring on two nights when the fields are at opposition, then further observations of these fields two months later, one year after discovery and a final epoch at three years after discovery. In combination with observations at other telescopes, this provides a bias-free recovery strategy, which in combination with the discovery efficiency characterization, allows an accurate determination of the orbital structure of the Kuiper Belt. We will present results from this first sample of KBOs.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: lallen@physics.ubc.ca
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #4
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.