Photometry of Outer Solar System Objects from the Dark Energy Survey. I. Photometric Methods, Light-curve Distributions, and Trans-Neptunian Binaries

(The DES Collaboration)

doi:10.3847/1538-4365/acf6bf

Photometry of Outer Solar System Objects from the Dark Energy Survey. I. Photometric Methods, Light-curve Distributions, and Trans-Neptunian Binaries

(The DES Collaboration)

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Abstract

We report the methods of and initial scientific inferences from the extraction of precision photometric information for the >800 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) discovered in the images of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Scene-modeling photometry is used to obtain shot-noise-limited flux measures for each exposure of each TNO, with background sources subtracted. Comparison of double-source fits to the pixel data with single-source fits are used to identify and characterize two binary TNO systems. A Markov Chain Monte Carlo method samples the joint likelihood of the intrinsic colors of each source as well as the amplitude of its flux variation, given the time series of multiband flux measurements and their uncertainties. A catalog of these colors and light-curve amplitudes A is included with this publication. We show how to assign a likelihood to the distribution q(A) of light-curve amplitudes in any subpopulation. Using this method, we find decisive evidence (i.e., evidence ratio <0.01) that cold classical (CC) TNOs with absolute magnitude 6 < H _r < 8.2 are more variable than the hot classical (HC) population of the same H _r, reinforcing theories that the former form in situ and the latter arise from a different physical population. Resonant and scattering TNOs in this H _r range have variability consistent with either the HCs or CCs. DES TNOs with H _r < 6 are seen to be decisively less variable than higher-H _r members of any dynamical group, as expected. More surprising is that detached TNOs are decisively less variable than scattering TNOs, which requires them to have distinct source regions or some subsequent differential processing.

Original language	English
Article number	18
Journal	Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series
Volume	269
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/acf6bf
State	Published - Nov 1 2023

Funding

Funding for the DES Projects has been provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Ministry of Science and Education of Spain, the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago, the Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics at the Ohio State University, the Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University, Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos, Funda\u00E7\u00E3o Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo \u00E0 Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient\u00EDfico e Tecnol\u00F3gico and the Minist\u00E9rio da Ci\u00EAncia, Tecnologia e Inova\u00E7\u00E3o, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and the Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey. The DES data management system is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant Nos. AST-1138766 and AST-1536171. The DES participants from Spanish institutions are partially supported by MINECO under grants AYA2015-71825, ESP2015-66861, FPA2015-68048, SEV-2016-0588, SEV-2016-0597, and MDM-2015-0509, some of which include ERDF funds from the European Union. IFAE is partially funded by the CERCA program of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union\u2019s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013) including ERC grant agreements 240672, 291329, and 306478. We acknowledge support from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), through project No. CE110001020, and the Brazilian Instituto Nacional de Ci\u00EAncia e Tecnologia (INCT) e-Universe (CNPq grant 465376/2014-2). This manuscript has been authored by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC under contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359 with the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. We thank the anonymous referee for providing a detailed review of our manuscript, and the AAS data editor for providing assistance with our data release. P.H.B. acknowledges support from the DIRAC Institute in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Washington. The DIRAC Institute is supported through generous gifts from the Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences, and the Washington Research Foundation. Work by G.M.B., P.H.B., and N.J. was supported by National Science Foundation grants AST-2009210 and AST-2205808.

Funders	Funder number
Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University
Brazilian Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia
High Energy Physics
Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Ohio State University
University of Chicago
Engineering Research Centers
Generalitat de Catalunya
Higher Education Funding Council for England
Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos
Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
European Commission
Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia para Excitotoxicidade e Neuroproteção
U.S. Department of Energy
Institute for Data Intensive Research in Astrophysics and Cosmology, University of Washington
Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom
Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação
Office of Science
National Centre for Supercomputing Applications
University of Washington
European Research Council
European Regional Development Fund
Washington Research Foundation
Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences
Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey
National Science Foundation	AST-2205808, 1138766, AST-2009210, AST-1536171
Fermi Research Alliance, LLC	DE-AC02-07CH11359
Seventh Framework Programme	2009210, 1138766, 240672, 306478, 291329
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad	SEV-2016-0588, SEV-2016-0597, ESP2015-66861, MDM-2015-0509, FPA2015-68048, AYA2015-71825
Australian Research Council	CE110001020
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico	465376/2014-2

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10.3847/1538-4365/acf6bf

Cite this

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title = "Photometry of Outer Solar System Objects from the Dark Energy Survey. I. Photometric Methods, Light-curve Distributions, and Trans-Neptunian Binaries",

abstract = "We report the methods of and initial scientific inferences from the extraction of precision photometric information for the >800 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) discovered in the images of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Scene-modeling photometry is used to obtain shot-noise-limited flux measures for each exposure of each TNO, with background sources subtracted. Comparison of double-source fits to the pixel data with single-source fits are used to identify and characterize two binary TNO systems. A Markov Chain Monte Carlo method samples the joint likelihood of the intrinsic colors of each source as well as the amplitude of its flux variation, given the time series of multiband flux measurements and their uncertainties. A catalog of these colors and light-curve amplitudes A is included with this publication. We show how to assign a likelihood to the distribution q(A) of light-curve amplitudes in any subpopulation. Using this method, we find decisive evidence (i.e., evidence ratio <0.01) that cold classical (CC) TNOs with absolute magnitude 6 < H r < 8.2 are more variable than the hot classical (HC) population of the same H r , reinforcing theories that the former form in situ and the latter arise from a different physical population. Resonant and scattering TNOs in this H r range have variability consistent with either the HCs or CCs. DES TNOs with H r < 6 are seen to be decisively less variable than higher-H r members of any dynamical group, as expected. More surprising is that detached TNOs are decisively less variable than scattering TNOs, which requires them to have distinct source regions or some subsequent differential processing.",

author = "{(The DES Collaboration)} and Bernardinelli, {Pedro H.} and Bernstein, {Gary M.} and Nicholas Jindal and Abbott, {T. M.C.} and M. Aguena and O. Alves and F. Andrade-Oliveira and J. Annis and D. Bacon and E. Bertin and D. Brooks and Burke, {D. L.} and {Carnero Rosell}, A. and {Carrasco Kind}, M. and J. Carretero and {da Costa}, {L. N.} and Pereira, {M. E.S.} and Davis, {T. M.} and S. Desai and Diehl, {H. T.} and P. Doel and S. Everett and I. Ferrero and D. Friedel and J. Frieman and J. Garc{\'i}a-Bellido and G. Giannini and D. Gruen and K. Herner and Hinton, {S. R.} and Hollowood, {D. L.} and K. Honscheid and James, {D. J.} and K. Kuehn and Marshall, {J. L.} and J. Mena-Fern{\'a}ndez and F. Menanteau and R. Miquel and Ogando, {R. L.C.} and A. Palmese and A. Pieres and {Plazas Malag{\'o}n}, {A. A.} and M. Raveri and E. Sanchez and I. Sevilla-Noarbe and M. Smith and E. Suchyta and Swanson, {M. E.C.} and G. Tarle and C. To",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.",

year = "2023",

month = nov,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3847/1538-4365/acf6bf",

language = "English",

volume = "269",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series",

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publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Photometry of Outer Solar System Objects from the Dark Energy Survey. I. Photometric Methods, Light-curve Distributions, and Trans-Neptunian Binaries

AU - (The DES Collaboration)

AU - Bernardinelli, Pedro H.

AU - Bernstein, Gary M.

AU - Jindal, Nicholas

AU - Abbott, T. M.C.

AU - Aguena, M.

AU - Alves, O.

AU - Andrade-Oliveira, F.

AU - Annis, J.

AU - Bacon, D.

AU - Bertin, E.

AU - Brooks, D.

AU - Burke, D. L.

AU - Carnero Rosell, A.

AU - Carrasco Kind, M.

AU - Carretero, J.

AU - da Costa, L. N.

AU - Pereira, M. E.S.

AU - Davis, T. M.

AU - Desai, S.

AU - Diehl, H. T.

AU - Doel, P.

AU - Everett, S.

AU - Ferrero, I.

AU - Friedel, D.

AU - Frieman, J.

AU - García-Bellido, J.

AU - Giannini, G.

AU - Gruen, D.

AU - Herner, K.

AU - Hinton, S. R.

AU - Hollowood, D. L.

AU - Honscheid, K.

AU - James, D. J.

AU - Kuehn, K.

AU - Marshall, J. L.

AU - Mena-Fernández, J.

AU - Menanteau, F.

AU - Miquel, R.

AU - Ogando, R. L.C.

AU - Palmese, A.

AU - Pieres, A.

AU - Plazas Malagón, A. A.

AU - Raveri, M.

AU - Sanchez, E.

AU - Sevilla-Noarbe, I.

AU - Smith, M.

AU - Suchyta, E.

AU - Swanson, M. E.C.

AU - Tarle, G.

AU - To, C.

PY - 2023/11/1

Y1 - 2023/11/1

N2 - We report the methods of and initial scientific inferences from the extraction of precision photometric information for the >800 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) discovered in the images of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Scene-modeling photometry is used to obtain shot-noise-limited flux measures for each exposure of each TNO, with background sources subtracted. Comparison of double-source fits to the pixel data with single-source fits are used to identify and characterize two binary TNO systems. A Markov Chain Monte Carlo method samples the joint likelihood of the intrinsic colors of each source as well as the amplitude of its flux variation, given the time series of multiband flux measurements and their uncertainties. A catalog of these colors and light-curve amplitudes A is included with this publication. We show how to assign a likelihood to the distribution q(A) of light-curve amplitudes in any subpopulation. Using this method, we find decisive evidence (i.e., evidence ratio <0.01) that cold classical (CC) TNOs with absolute magnitude 6 < H r < 8.2 are more variable than the hot classical (HC) population of the same H r , reinforcing theories that the former form in situ and the latter arise from a different physical population. Resonant and scattering TNOs in this H r range have variability consistent with either the HCs or CCs. DES TNOs with H r < 6 are seen to be decisively less variable than higher-H r members of any dynamical group, as expected. More surprising is that detached TNOs are decisively less variable than scattering TNOs, which requires them to have distinct source regions or some subsequent differential processing.

AB - We report the methods of and initial scientific inferences from the extraction of precision photometric information for the >800 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) discovered in the images of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Scene-modeling photometry is used to obtain shot-noise-limited flux measures for each exposure of each TNO, with background sources subtracted. Comparison of double-source fits to the pixel data with single-source fits are used to identify and characterize two binary TNO systems. A Markov Chain Monte Carlo method samples the joint likelihood of the intrinsic colors of each source as well as the amplitude of its flux variation, given the time series of multiband flux measurements and their uncertainties. A catalog of these colors and light-curve amplitudes A is included with this publication. We show how to assign a likelihood to the distribution q(A) of light-curve amplitudes in any subpopulation. Using this method, we find decisive evidence (i.e., evidence ratio <0.01) that cold classical (CC) TNOs with absolute magnitude 6 < H r < 8.2 are more variable than the hot classical (HC) population of the same H r , reinforcing theories that the former form in situ and the latter arise from a different physical population. Resonant and scattering TNOs in this H r range have variability consistent with either the HCs or CCs. DES TNOs with H r < 6 are seen to be decisively less variable than higher-H r members of any dynamical group, as expected. More surprising is that detached TNOs are decisively less variable than scattering TNOs, which requires them to have distinct source regions or some subsequent differential processing.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85177198396&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3847/1538-4365/acf6bf

DO - 10.3847/1538-4365/acf6bf

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85177198396

SN - 0067-0049

VL - 269

JO - Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series

JF - Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series

IS - 1

M1 - 18

ER -

Photometry of Outer Solar System Objects from the Dark Energy Survey. I. Photometric Methods, Light-curve Distributions, and Trans-Neptunian Binaries

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