是先前早就使用許多頂尖的望遠鏡找了好幾年了說…
包括8~10米的凱克 昴 雙子… 等等 都沒有找到足夠好又足夠靠近的目標
最近的在7500萬公里外 (0.5AU), 這對新視野號的20公分望遠鏡來說應該看不到什麼細節 (這距離 差不多是用業餘望遠鏡看火星的衛星….. ,話說觀星會有人看過 拍過火星的衛星嗎? )
HST 可說是最後的希望了…
Ground based assets such as the Keck, Subaru and Gemini observatories have been repeatedly employed in the search over the past three years. The best hopes lie with the Hubble Space Telescope, which can go deeper and spy fainter targets.
還有一年時間 .. 所以現在開始找飛過PLUTO 後的KBO 天體 .<==坦白說 我覺得真的有點太晚了….但希望偉大的HST可以帶來驚喜
可以參考這篇的消息
http://www.universetoday.com/111757/the-hunt-for-kbos-for-new-horizons-post-pluto-encounter-continues/will New Horizons have another target available to study for its post-Pluto encounter out in the Kuiper Belt? Researchers say time is of the essence to find it.
The idea has always been out there to send New Horizons onward to explore and object beyond Pluto in the Kuiper Belt, but thus far, searches for a potential target have turned up naught.(無)
The assessment notes that such a chance to check out a KBO up close may only come once in our lifetimes
The statement also notes that the window may be closing to find such a favorable target after 2014, as the upcoming observational apparition of Pluto as seen from Earth
And there currently isn’t a short-list of “next best thing” targets for New Horizons post-Pluto encounter. One object, dubbed VNH0004, may be available for distant observations in January of next year, but even this object will only pass 75 million kilometres — about 0.5 A.U. — from New Horizons at its closest.
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