Trans-Neptunian objects found in the first four years of the Dark Energy Survey. (arXiv:1909.01478v1 [astro-ph.EP])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bernardinelli_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">Pedro H. Bernardinelli</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bernstein_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Gary M. Bernstein</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Sako_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Masao Sako</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Liu_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Tongtian Liu</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Saunders_W/0/1/0/all/0/1">William R. Saunders</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Khain_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Tali Khain</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lin_H/0/1/0/all/0/1">Hsing Wen Lin</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gerdes_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">David W. Gerdes</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Brout_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Dillon Brout</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Adams_F/0/1/0/all/0/1">Fred C. Adams</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Belyakov_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Matthew Belyakov</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Somasundaram_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Aditya Inada Somasundaram</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Sharma_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Lakshay Sharma</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lockez_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jennifer Lockez</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Franson_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kyle Franson</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Becker_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Juliette C. Becker</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Napier_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kevin Napier</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Markwardt_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Larissa Markwardt</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Annis_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">James Annis</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Abbott_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">T. M. C. Abbott</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Avila_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. Avila</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Brooks_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. Brooks</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Burke_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. L. Burke</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Rosell_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">A. Carnero Rosell</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kind_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. Carrasco Kind</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Castander_F/0/1/0/all/0/1">F. J. Castander</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Costa_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">L. N. da Costa</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Vicente_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. De Vicente</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Desai_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. Desai</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Diehl_H/0/1/0/all/0/1">H. T. Diehl</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Doel_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">P. Doel</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Everett_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. Everett</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Flaugher_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">B. Flaugher</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Garcia_Bellido_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. Garc&#xed;a-Bellido</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gruen_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. Gruen</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gruendl_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">R. A. Gruendl</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gschwend_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. Gschwend</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gutierrez_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">G. Gutierrez</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hollowood_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. L. Hollowood</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+James_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. J. James</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Johnson_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. W. G. Johnson</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Johnson_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. D. Johnson</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Krause_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">E. Krause</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kuropatkin_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">N. Kuropatkin</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Maia_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. A. G. Maia</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+March_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. March</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Miquel_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">R. Miquel</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Paz_Chinchon_F/0/1/0/all/0/1">F. Paz-Chinch&#xf3;n</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Plazas_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">A. A. Plazas</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Romer_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">A. K. Romer</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Rykoff_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">E. S. Rykoff</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Sanchez_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">C. S&#xe1;nchez</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Sanchez_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">E. Sanchez</a>, et al. (11 additional authors not shown)

We present a catalog of 316 trans-Neptunian bodies detected by the Dark
Energy Survey (DES). These objects include 245 discoveries by DES (139 not
previously published) detected in $approx 60,000$ exposures from the first
four seasons of the survey (“Y4” data). The survey covers a contiguous 5000
deg$^2$ of the southern sky in the $grizY$ optical/NIR filter set, with a
typical TNO in this part of the sky being targeted by $25-30$ Y4 exposures. We
describe the processes for detection of transient sources and the linkage into
TNO orbits, which are made challenging by the absence of the few-hour repeat
observations employed by TNO-optimized surveys. We also describe the procedures
for determining detection efficiencies vs. magnitude and estimating rates of
false-positive linkages. This work presents all TNOs which were detected on
$ge 6$ unique nights in the Y4 data and pass a “sub-threshold confirmation”
test wherein we demand the the object be detectable in a stack of the
individual images in which the orbit indicates an object should be present, but
was not detected. This eliminates false positives and yields TNO detections
complete to $rlesssim 23.3$ mag with virtually no dependence on orbital
properties for bound TNOs at distance $30,{rm AU}0.3$ mag more depth, and arcs of
$>4$ years for nearly all detections.

We present a catalog of 316 trans-Neptunian bodies detected by the Dark
Energy Survey (DES). These objects include 245 discoveries by DES (139 not
previously published) detected in $approx 60,000$ exposures from the first
four seasons of the survey (“Y4” data). The survey covers a contiguous 5000
deg$^2$ of the southern sky in the $grizY$ optical/NIR filter set, with a
typical TNO in this part of the sky being targeted by $25-30$ Y4 exposures. We
describe the processes for detection of transient sources and the linkage into
TNO orbits, which are made challenging by the absence of the few-hour repeat
observations employed by TNO-optimized surveys. We also describe the procedures
for determining detection efficiencies vs. magnitude and estimating rates of
false-positive linkages. This work presents all TNOs which were detected on
$ge 6$ unique nights in the Y4 data and pass a “sub-threshold confirmation”
test wherein we demand the the object be detectable in a stack of the
individual images in which the orbit indicates an object should be present, but
was not detected. This eliminates false positives and yields TNO detections
complete to $rlesssim 23.3$ mag with virtually no dependence on orbital
properties for bound TNOs at distance $30,{rm AU}<d<2500,{rm AU}.$ The
final DES TNO catalog is expected to yield $>0.3$ mag more depth, and arcs of
$>4$ years for nearly all detections.

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