From now until March 1st 2017 astronomer from EAO regions are invited to join either of the two successful EAO/Subaru proposals that have been awarded time on the Subaru Telescope. The program descriptions and details of how to get involved are provided below.
Title: Young substellar objects in L1495
PI: Poshih Chiang, National Central University, Taiwan
Awarded: 1 night with IRCS+LGS-AO
Project code: S17A0141N
We propose to obtain Subaru near-infrared spectra to verify a list of young candidates of brown dwarf and planet-mass objects in one of the nearby active star-forming clouds in Taurus. Our targets have been selected by narrow-band imaging with a newly designed filter to have possible water absorption, a characteristic of cool atmospheres. Our prior experience with the filter indicates high efficiency to recognize substellar objects. The Subaru observations will be the last step to produce a confirmed sample of young brown dwarfs and free-floating planets, which will serve as a milestone data set to link the formation of stars versus substellar objects.
Title: A search for the hypothetical vertical TNO/Centaur belt
PI: Hsing Wen Li, National Central University, Taiwan
Awarded: 2 nights with HSC
project code: S17A0143N
Based on a new retrograde and five known high-inclination Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), our group (Chen et. al. 2016) found that these objects are moving in a common plane, with some orbiting prograde and the others orbiting retrograde. Based on our analysis, we proposed that there exists a nearly vertical belt of TNOs. However, the mechanism of this orbital arrangement is not yet known. The verification of our hypothesis and the identification of the mechanisms by which this population is formed and maintained requires additional observations and further theoretical investigation. Here we propose a 130 square degree HyperSuprime-Cam survey for high-inclination TNOs. Our survey will concentrate on high declinations, and we expect to discover 6 to 28 high inclination TNOs. Combining our results with those of the HSC-SSP survey, we will have a deep, comprehensive survey with less instrumental bias and larger survey area. We will be able to test the hypothetical vertical TNO belt and constrain several high-i TNO properties, i. e. luminosity function and total population estimation. This knowledge of high-i TNOs will support active research into the formation and dynamical evolution of the solar system.
Get Involved
If either of these programs sound exciting and you feel you can contribute to these programs then please get involved. You may sign up via the online form:
Open Enrollment for EAO regional astronomers
Alternatively, if you have difficulty accessing the form, you can email us at EAO_subaru “at” eaobservatory.org with your name, institution, EAO regional affiliation, program of interest and a brief paragraph explaining how you feel you might be able to contribute to the program.