Discovery of a New Member of the Inner Oort Cloud from The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey

摘要

We report the discovery of 2010 GB$_{174}$, a likely new member of the InnerOort Cloud (IOC). 2010 GB$_{174}$ is one of 91 Trans Neptunian Objects (TNOs)and Centaurs discovered in a 76 deg$^2$ contiguous region imaged as part of theNext Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS) --- a moderate ecliptic latitudesurvey reaching a mean limiting magnitude of $g^\prime \simeq 25.5$ --- usingMegaPrime on the 3.6m Canada France Hawaii Telescope. 2010 GB$_{174}$ is foundto have an orbit with semi-major axis $a\simeq350.8$ AU, inclination $i \simeq21.6^\circ$ and pericentre $q\sim48.5$ AU. This is the second largestperihelion distance among known solar system objects. Based on the sky coverageand depth of the NGVS, we estimate the number of IOC members with sizes largerthan 300 km ($H_V \le 6.2$ mag) to be $\simeq 11\,000$. A comparison of thedetection rate from the NGVS and the PDSSS (a characterized survey that`re-discovered' the IOC object Sedna) gives, for an assumed a power-law LF forIOC objects, a slope of $\alpha \simeq 0.7 \pm 0.2$, with only two detectionsin this region this slope estimate is highly uncertain.