Photometry of 27 Kuiper Belt Objects with ESO/Very Large Telescope ^*,**

¹ European Southern Observatory, Casilla 19001, Santiago, Chile
² Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, 5 place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon Cedex, France
³ Universidad Catolica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile
⁴ Institute for Astronomy, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, 96822 Honolulu, Hawaii
⁵ National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan

Corresponding author: A. Delsanti, adelsant@eso.org

Received: 12 September 2001
Accepted: 10 October 2001

Abstract

We present visible (BVRI) photometric measurements of 27 Trans-Neptunian objects, obtained with the FORS2 instrument on the ESO/8 m Very Large Telescope (Unit 2) from runs during September and November 2000. The objects display a broad and continuous range of colors from neutral-bluish to very red. Most of the objects also have a linear reflectivity spectrum over the VRI range. There is no evidence of a bimodal color distribution as has been previously reported by other groups. Several objects (1994 TB, 1995 SM₅₅, 1998 UR₄₃, 1999CF₁₁₉ and 2000 OK₆₇) show evidence of changing color, and should be investigated further. The object 1995 SM₅₅ deserves a more complete study since its neutral-blue colors suggest it could be a good candidate for hosting cometary activity.