DECam黄道探索项目（DEEP）：I. 巡天描述、科学问题与技术演示
The DECam Ecliptic Exploration Project (DEEP): I. Survey description, science questions, and technical demonstration
AI总结：
本文介绍了为期三年的DEEP巡天项目，其核心采用“数字跟踪”技术组合图像，以发现暗至VR~27的数千个海王星外天体，预计将使已知小型TNOs数量增加10倍以上。
摘要：
我们在此介绍DECam黄道探索项目（DEEP），这是一项为期三年的NOAO/NOIRLab巡天项目，分配了46.5个夜晚，用于发现和测量数千个海王星外天体（TNOs）的特性，其星等暗至VR~27，对应直径小至20公里的大小。在本文中，我们介绍了该项目的科学目标、巡天的实验设计以及我们方法的技术演示。我们项目的核心是“数字跟踪”，其中所有收集的图像在一系列运动矢量下进行组合，以检测比单次曝光深度VR~23星等更暗的未知TNOs。通过这种方法，我们达到了比标准LSST“广泛快速深度”标称巡天深度24.5星等暗约2.5个星等的深度。DEEP将使已知具有24小时或更长观测弧的TNOs数量增加一倍以上，并使已知小型（<50公里）TNOs的数量增加10倍或更多。我们还描述了我们的辅助科学目标，包括测量极小主带小行星的平均形状分布，并简要概述了一系列即将发表的论文，这些论文介绍了DEEP项目的更多方面和初步结果。
英文摘要：
We present here the DECam Ecliptic Exploration Project (DEEP), a three year NOAO/NOIRLab Survey that was allocated 46.5 nights to discover and measure the properties of thousands of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) to magnitudes as faint as VR~27, corresponding to sizes as small as 20 km diameter. In this paper we present the science goals of this project, the experimental design of our survey, and a technical demonstration of our approach. The core of our project is "digital tracking," in which all collected images are combined at a range of motion vectors to detect unknown TNOs that are fainter than the single exposure depth of VR~23 mag. Through this approach we reach a depth that is approximately 2.5 magnitudes fainter than the standard LSST "wide fast deep" nominal survey depth of 24.5 mag. DEEP will more than double the number of known TNOs with observational arcs of 24 hours or more, and increase by a factor of 10 or more the number of known small (<50 km) TNOs. We also describe our ancillary science goals, including measuring the mean shape distribution of very small main belt asteroids, and briefly outline a set of forthcoming papers that present further aspects of and preliminary results from the DEEP program.
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