The Luminosity Function of Ultra-Faint Trans-Neptunian Objects Detected by JWST
Abstract
We present a definitive discovery of 27 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) using the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) aboard the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). By employing a shift-and-stack technique and a machine learning network geared specifically to identifying false-positive detections in JWST images produced through the shift-and-stack process, we achieved a 40\% detection threshold of mF150W2=28.8 mag (corresponding to mr∼29.8 mag) across a sky area of 0.05 deg2. This marks the deepest Solar System survey to date, reaching magnitudes that allow us to explore never-before-seen regions of the TNO size distribution. Our faintest detection has mF150W2=29.3 mag and diameter of ∼10 km (assuming 15\% albedo). Within our sample, we find that both the Cold and Hot TNO subpopulations exhibit a power-law slope. The distribution of apparent magnitudes of our nominal sample (detections at all epochs) are well fit by a single power law dN/dm ∝ 10αm with α=0.29+0.08−0.07. The dynamically hot and cold subsamples in our discovery set are consistent with the same power law, suggesting that the planetesimal formation process yields similar slopes despite the differing disk conditions at the presumed ∼25 and ∼45~au formation regions of the two populations.
Versions
Related
- Efficient Detection-level Linking of Trans-Neptunian Objects via a Spherical-orbit Basis
- Optical Colors as Compressed Spectral Information for Trans-Neptunian Objects
- Combined JWST and HST Deep Imaging to Characterize the Smallest Known Trans-Neptunian Objects
- Detection of episodic Ultra-fast Outflows in the Low-luminosity quasar Mrk 205 using XMM-Newton data
- Constraining Baryonic Feedback at z∼ 1 with the Hα Luminosity Function
BibTeX
@misc{eduardo2026luminosity,
title = {{The Luminosity Function of Ultra-Faint Trans-Neptunian Objects Detected by JWST}},
author = {Marielle R. Eduardo and Anastasia N. Morgan and Wesley C. Fraser and David E. Trilling and Gary M. Bernstein and John A. Stansberry and Bryan Hilbert and Matthew J. Holman and William M. Grundy and Thomas L. Storer and Kevin J. Napier},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.09044},
eprint = {2609.09044},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09044},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The Luminosity Function of Ultra-Faint Trans-Neptunian Objects Detected by JWST
AU - Marielle R. Eduardo
AU - Anastasia N. Morgan
AU - Wesley C. Fraser
AU - David E. Trilling
AU - Gary M. Bernstein
AU - John A. Stansberry
AU - Bryan Hilbert
AU - Matthew J. Holman
AU - William M. Grundy
AU - Thomas L. Storer
AU - Kevin J. Napier
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/08
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.09044
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09044
AB - We present a definitive discovery of 27 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) using the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) aboard the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). By employing a shift-and-stack technique and a machine learning network geared specifically to identifying false-positive detections in JWST images produced through the shift-and-stack process, we achieved a 40\% detection threshold of m_F150W2=28.8 mag (corresponding to m_r∼29.8 mag) across a sky area of 0.05 deg^2. This marks the deepest Solar System survey to date, reaching magnitudes that allow us to explore never-before-seen regions of the TNO size distribution. Our faintest detection has m_F150W2=29.3 mag and diameter of ∼10 km (assuming 15\% albedo). Within our sample, we find that both the Cold and Hot TNO subpopulations exhibit a power-law slope. The distribution of apparent magnitudes of our nominal sample (detections at all epochs) are well fit by a single power law dN/dm ∝ 10^αm with α=0.29^+0.08_−0.07. The dynamically hot and cold subsamples in our discovery set are consistent with the same power law, suggesting that the planetesimal formation process yields similar slopes despite the differing disk conditions at the presumed ∼25 and ∼45~au formation regions of the two populations.
ER -