19521 Chaos | November 19, 1998 |
28978 Ixion | May 22, 2001 |
38083 Rhadamanthus | April 17, 1999 |
(42301) 2001 UR163 | October 21, 2001 |
53311 Deucalion | April 18, 1999 |
54598 Bienor | August 27, 2000 |
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 Bob Millis. Since 1998 through the end of 2003, the survey covered 550 square degrees with sensitivity of 22.5. I.e., 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.[1]
The remarkable discoveries include:[2]