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Inventorying the Solar System with LSST

Near the ecliptic, LSST is expected to detect approximately 4000 moving objects per 9.6 square degree field of view. Each pointing (with mag limits r 24.5) will be revisited within 30-45 minutes, several times per month. Automated software will provide the means to link these individual detections into orbits. The result will be publicly available catalogs of hundreds of thousands of NEOs and Jupiter Trojans, millions of asteroids, tens of thousands of TNOs, as well as thousands of other objects such as comets and irregular satellites of the major planets. These catalogs will contain final orbits as well as the individual (multi-color) observations, calibrated to high precisision in astrometry ( 50 mas) and photometry ( 0.01 mag). With these large datasets, LSST will provide new insights into links between populations of moving objects, such as the relationship between Main Belt asteroids and NEOs. Models of solar system evolution, such as the Nice model, can be tested against an order of magnitude larger statistical sample, providing much stronger constraints than are currently possible. With high accuracy multi-color photometry, lightcurves and colors will be determined for a significant fraction of the objects detected. Using sparse lightcurve inversion, spin state and shape models will be derived for tens of thousands of main belt asteroids. Derivation of proper elements for Main Belt asteroids will greatly enlarge existing asteroid families, particularly at smaller sizes, and precise color information will facilitate further division. More unpredictable discoveries, such as the potential for observing a real-time collision, could lead to new insights into physical properties, the size distribution at very small diameters, the orbital evolution of asteroids, or the discovery of possible space mission targets.

asteroids

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