The Palomar Distant Solar System Survey (PDSSS) was a wide-field survey aimed at finding distant trans-Neptunian objects that used the robotic 1.2 m Samuel Oschin Telescope at

Palomar Observatory Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...

and the QUEST large-area

CCD camera A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...

. The survey was specifically designed to identify putative members of a Sedna-like population with perihelia greater than 45 AU. The limiting magnitude of this study was 21.3 in the R-band, it was sensitive out to distances of 1000 AU, and 12,000 square degrees of sky were searched. This observing program was responsible for the discovery of 25 minor planets including trans-Neptunian objects and

centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...

s. and Gǃkúnǁʼhòmdímà () were among the objects discovered by this survey. It redetected Sedna but no other objects in Sedna-like orbits were identified.

References

External links

Trans-Neptunian objects, MPC list
Astronomical surveys Asteroid surveys Palomar Observatory {{Asteroid-stub