Project 12: "Asteroid Rotation and NEO Search"

by Andre Bormanis

Level: Advanced

Requirements: Photometry Software, NEO Coordinates Light Curves

 

Objective

Based on published information in various magazines, journals and other publications, students and interested amateurs will observe and image selected Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) with the intent of detecting periodic changes in apparent magnitude, i.e. light curves. Light curves will be used to determine asteroid rotation rates. Searches for new NEOs will also be conducted. Proper data submission formats are provided by the various organizations interested in this research, such as the Minor Planet Center (MPC).

 

Background

Determining the rotation rates of NEOs is an important part of characterizing the physical nature of these objects. There are perhaps ten times as many NEOs in the solar system as currently catalogued. Discovering new NEOs is scientifically important and particularly rewarding work for students and amateurs.

 

Discussion of Work

Project participants will develop an observing plan outlining the objects they intend to observe, how many observations will be made, and CCD exposure times. In a typical observing session, one or more (depending on available time) suitable objects that lie within approximately fifteen degrees of the meridian during the course of the observing session will be imaged. The telescope will be slewed to the celestial coordinates of the selected NEO. Repeated CCD exposures will be taken. Using photometry software, the CCD image data will be analyzed to obtain the magnitude of the NEO for each of the CCD exposures. A sufficient number of CCD images will be taken to determine the object's light curve and rotation rate.

Students and amateurs interested in a search program will develop an observing plan, focusing on imaging several-degree patches of sky in the West after dusk and the East before dawn. Photographed fields will be compared to star charts. Suspected NEOs will be imaged at least twice to determine if a noticeable change in position has taken place. Project participants should report new NEO discoveries to the Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

 

References

Astronomical Almanac
Observer's Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
S.J. Edberg and D.H. Levy, Observe Comets, Astronomical League, 1985
J.E. Bortle, "Comets and How to Hunt Them," Sky & Telescope, Feb., 1981, pp. 123-125
F. Pilcher, Research Amateur Astronomy, ASP Conference Series, v. 33, 1992, pp 78-75
ALPO Comets Section, c/o David Levy, Route 7, Box 414, Tucson, AZ 85747

Minor Planet Center
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
60 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS TIE User Guide TIE USER'S GUIDE CCD ASTRO INTRODUCTION TO CCD ASTRONOMY PROJECT 1 Basic Use of the TIE 24" Telescope System PROJECT 2 Adopt a Constellation PROJECT 3 Adopt a Galaxy--The Search for Supernovae PROJECT 4 A Survey of Deep Sky Objects PROJECT 5

Near Earth Objects--Comet and Asteroid Studies PROJECT 6 The Colors of the Stars PROJECT 7 The Colors of the Stars in Open Clusters PROJECT 8 Advanced Imaging Techniques PROJECT 9 Variable Stars--Keys to the Universe PROJECT 10 Focus on RR Lyrae Stars--The Anatomy of the H-R Diagram PROJECT 11 Variable Star Search PROJECT 12 Asteroid Rotation and NEO Search