How does one find an Oort cloud body? (was Motherlode Earth)

maybe we better bring a flashlight with us. Flashlights seem to be developing apace, so by the time we make it to the Kuyper Belt and Oort Cloud, they should be quite impressive- just the thing for finding objects in the bad ol dark!

From: hitssquad
Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2013 7:46 PM
To: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [spacesettlers] How does one find an Oort cloud body? (was Re: Motherlode Earth)

--- In mailto:spacesettlers%40yahoogroups.com, Joe Strout wrote:
> As for detecting them: "four currently known trans-Neptunian objects 90377 Sedna, 2000 CR105, 2006 SQ372, and 2008 KV42 are considered possible members of the inner Oort cloud." (From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oort_cloud)

All four of those are closer than 100 AU from the sun, and the last one was discovered at only 32 AU (or about as far from the sun as Neptune). As it's article notes:

"Part of the difficulty is that these objects are extremely rare. Despite having surveyed most of the northern sky for bright objects of this type, astronomers have found only one other that might belong to the same class as 2008 KV42. Discovered in 2002 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey, (127546) 2002 XU93 has an orbit on a 77-degree tilt."

Now try finding these "bright objects" where there's no light: the Oort cloud.