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Project 5: "Near Earth Objects--Comet and Asteroid Studies"
by Andre Bormanis
Level: Intermediate
Requirements: NEO Coordinates
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). A catalog of the selected NEOs will be created and updated. Catalog information will include object history, classification, orbital elements, photometric data, estimated size and mass, and other available data. Any changes in NEO magnitude, expected position, orbital characteristics, coma size, shape, etc. will become clear as catalog data are accumulated over repeated observations. The NEOs will be observed and imaged as frequently as possible. As the catalog is compiled, recorded data will be of interest to various professionals and organizations involved in NEO research, such as the Minor Planet Center (MPC). Proper data submission formats are provided by the various organizations. Observers will be informed how to alert the MPC to substantive or scientifically interesting short-term changes, such as "disconnection events," in a given NEO's characteristics.
Background
NEOs are a subject of increasing interest to planetary scientists. In addition to their specific value as containing potentially un-modified materials dating to the birth of the solar system, the recent impact of Comet SL-9 with the planet Jupiter has raised awareness of the potential hazard NEOs pose to the Earth and the importance of early detection.
Discussion of Work
From a variety of published sources, project participants will obtain the locations of known NEOs brighter than the limiting magnitude of the TIE telescope and CCD camera. Users will create an observing plan prior to their assigned on-line time. In a typical observing session, suitable objects that lie within approximately fifteen degrees of the meridian during the course of the observing session will be targeted for study. The telescope will be slewed to the celestial coordinates of each desired NEO in turn. Appropriate CCD exposures are taken for each object. The CCD image data will be analyzed to determine the magnitude of each NEO (total integrated magnitude in the case of an extended object, i.e. a comet). Repeated positional observations will be used to refine orbital elements.
When possible, stellar occultation timings will be undertaken. This project will create an NEO catalog that will be continuously revised. Important NEO archival data will thus be generated, providing a valuable resource to the NEO research community.
References
Astronomical
Almanac
Handbook of the British Astronomical Association
Observer's Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
ALPO Minor Planets Section, c/o Frederick Pilcher, Illinois College, Jacksonville,
IL 62650
F. Pilcher, Research Amateur Astronomy, ASP Conference Series, v. 33, 1992,
pp 78-75
Minor Planet Center
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
60 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
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Near
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