Search for Trans-Neptunian objects: an automated technique applied to images obtained with the UH 8k CCD Mosaic Camera

In this paper we present the results obtained with a new program dedicated to the automatic detection of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with standard sets of images obtained in a same field of view. This program is available freely from the World Wide Web server of the Observatory of Besançon (http://www.obs-besancon.fr/www/ publi/philippe/tno.html) and is designed to be used with the Munich Image Data Analysis System (MIDAS) developped by The European Southern Observatory (ESO). It has been tested with observational data collected with the UH 8k CCD mosaic Camera on October 27, 1997, at the prime focus of the CFH telescope (Mauna Kea, Hawaii). These observational data had lead, by the classical method of blinking, to a first detection of a new TNO with a magnitude estimated at 23.6 and an unusually high orbital inclination (i'33◦). The program managed to detect this object, as well as detecting another TNO (mR '23.9), confirming its ability to detect faint moving objects.