Deep Ecliptic Survey

Minor planets discovered: 9 ^[1]
19521 Chaos	19 November 1998	list
28978 Ixion	22 May 2001	list
38083 Rhadamanthus	17 April 1999	list
(42301) 2001 UR163	21 October 2001	list
53311 Deucalion	18 April 1999	list
54598 Bienor	27 August 2000	list
88611 Teharonhiawako	20 August 2001	list
148780 Altjira	20 October 2001	list
(361701) 2007 VZ171	24 November 2003	list

The Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES) is a project to find Kuiper belt objects (KBOs), using the facilities of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). The principal investigator is Robert L. Millis.

Since 1998 through the end of 2003, the survey covered 550 square degrees with sensitivity of 22.5, which means an estimated 50% of objects of this magnitude have been found.

The survey has also established the mean Kuiper Belt plane and introduced new formal definitions of the dynamical classes of Kuiper belt objects.^[2]

The remarkable first observations and/or discoveries include:^[3]

28978 Ixion, large plutino
19521 Chaos (cubewano)
1998 WW31, the first binary trans-Neptunian object (TNO)
(148209) 2000 CR105, the first object with perihelion too far to be affected (scattered) by Neptune and a large semi-major axis
(87269) 2000 OO67, remarkable for its semi-major axis of more than 500 AU and extreme eccentricity (0.96) taking the object from the inside of the Neptune's orbit to more than 1000 AU
2001 QR322, the first Neptune trojan
2002 XU₉₃, with one of the most inclined orbits (>68°)

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^ Cite error: The named reference Buie-2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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[Buie-2003-3] Cite error: The named reference Buie-2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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