Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
184,937 studies31 sourcesUpdated 34 min ago
PreprintCC BY 4.0arXiv

Combined JWST and HST Deep Imaging to Characterize the Smallest Known Trans-Neptunian Objects

  • Anastasia N. Morgan
  • Marielle R. Eduardo
  • David E. Trilling
  • Wesley C. Fraser
  • John A. Stansberry
  • Gary M. Bernstein
  • Bryan Hilbert
  • Matthew J. Holman
  • William M. Grundy
  • Kevin J. Napier
  • Stephen C. Tegler
  • Cesar Fuentes
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

We present optical-near-infrared (NIR) color measurements for small (≤ 40 km) Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) using coordinated and nearly simultaneous observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). JWST/NIRCam data provided detections and NIR photometry for faint TNOs, while HST/ACS and WFC3 imaging enabled recovery in the optical, together yielding optical-NIR colors spanning 0.35-3.2 μm. Thirteen JWST-detected TNOs were recovered in the HST observations, and trailed PSF photometry was used to derive mean magnitudes, colors, and rotational lightcurves. The color distribution of our small cold classical TNO discoveries is narrow and consistent with the occupation of a single reflectance (color) sequence previously identified for larger cold classical TNOs. We find no evidence for a change in this sequence at smaller sizes. In contrast, the dynamically excited TNOs we discovered exhibit a broader range of colors consistent with multiple compositional classes seen at larger sizes. Lightcurve amplitudes were generally low for both dynamical groups in our sample. 2015 GK56, a previously known TNO in our field, displays a large-amplitude, structured lightcurve consistent with a contact binary. Our results indicate that the characteristic color distribution of TNOs extends to smaller sizes than previously studied, suggesting a primordial origin rather than size-dependent collisional processing.

Versions

Related

  1. Efficient Detection-level Linking of Trans-Neptunian Objects via a Spherical-orbit Basis
    Thomas R. Ruch, Kevin J. Napier, David W. Gerdes +1
    The Planetary Science JournalPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textPlanetary science & exoplanetsCrossref
  2. The Luminosity Function of Ultra-Faint Trans-Neptunian Objects Detected by JWST
    Marielle R. Eduardo, Anastasia N. Morgan, Wesley C. Fraser +8
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textPlanetary science & exoplanetsarXiv
  3. Optical Colors as Compressed Spectral Information for Trans-Neptunian Objects
    Hsing-Wen Lin, Larissa Markwardt, Kevin Napier +3
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textInstrumentation & methodsPlanetary science & exoplanetsarXiv
  4. Increasing Sensitivity to Trailed Solar System Objects in Archival JWST NIRCam Imaging with Group Differencing
    Anthony Girmenia, Stanimir Metchev
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textInstrumentation & methodsPlanetary science & exoplanetsarXiv
  5. Deep H α Imaging Survey of IC 348 with the Hubble Space Telescope. I. Accretion Properties of Stellar and Substellar Objects
    Lillian Yushu Jiang, Brendan P. Bowler, Yifan Zhou +5
    The Astronomical JournalPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textSolar & stellar physicsCrossref

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{morgan2026combined,
  title = {{Combined JWST and HST Deep Imaging to Characterize the Smallest Known Trans-Neptunian Objects}},
  author = {Anastasia N. Morgan and Marielle R. Eduardo and David E. Trilling and Wesley C. Fraser and John A. Stansberry and Gary M. Bernstein and Bryan Hilbert and Matthew J. Holman and William M. Grundy and Kevin J. Napier and Stephen C. Tegler and Cesar Fuentes},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.09008},
  eprint = {2609.09008},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09008},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Combined JWST and HST Deep Imaging to Characterize the Smallest Known Trans-Neptunian Objects
AU  - Anastasia N. Morgan
AU  - Marielle R. Eduardo
AU  - David E. Trilling
AU  - Wesley C. Fraser
AU  - John A. Stansberry
AU  - Gary M. Bernstein
AU  - Bryan Hilbert
AU  - Matthew J. Holman
AU  - William M. Grundy
AU  - Kevin J. Napier
AU  - Stephen C. Tegler
AU  - Cesar Fuentes
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/08
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.09008
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09008
AB  - We present optical-near-infrared (NIR) color measurements for small (≤ 40 km) Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) using coordinated and nearly simultaneous observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). JWST/NIRCam data provided detections and NIR photometry for faint TNOs, while HST/ACS and WFC3 imaging enabled recovery in the optical, together yielding optical-NIR colors spanning 0.35-3.2 μm. Thirteen JWST-detected TNOs were recovered in the HST observations, and trailed PSF photometry was used to derive mean magnitudes, colors, and rotational lightcurves. The color distribution of our small cold classical TNO discoveries is narrow and consistent with the occupation of a single reflectance (color) sequence previously identified for larger cold classical TNOs. We find no evidence for a change in this sequence at smaller sizes. In contrast, the dynamically excited TNOs we discovered exhibit a broader range of colors consistent with multiple compositional classes seen at larger sizes. Lightcurve amplitudes were generally low for both dynamical groups in our sample. 2015 GK56, a previously known TNO in our field, displays a large-amplitude, structured lightcurve consistent with a contact binary. Our results indicate that the characteristic color distribution of TNOs extends to smaller sizes than previously studied, suggesting a primordial origin rather than size-dependent collisional processing.
ER  -