Catalina Sky Survey

Last updated
Catalina Sky Survey
Catalina Sky Survey.jpg
Alternative namesCSS
Coordinates 32°25′01″N110°43′59″W / 32.417°N 110.733°W / 32.417; -110.733 OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Observatory code 703
Website catalina.lpl.arizona.edu
Minor planets discovered: 25602 [1]
see § List of discovered minor planets

Catalina Sky Survey (CSS; obs. code: 703) is an astronomical survey to discover comets and asteroids. It is conducted at the Steward Observatory's Catalina Station, located near Tucson, Arizona, in the United States.

Contents

CSS focuses on the search for near-Earth objects, in particular on any potentially hazardous asteroid that may pose a threat of impact. Its counterpart in the southern hemisphere was the Siding Spring Survey (SSS), closed in 2013 due to loss of funding. CSS supersedes the photographic Bigelow Sky Survey.

Mission

Number of NEOs detected by various projects:
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LINEAR

NEAT

Spacewatch

LONEOS
CSS

Pan-STARRS

NEOWISE

All others NEA by survey.png
Number of NEOs detected by various projects:
   LINEAR
   NEAT
   Spacewatch
   LONEOS
  CSS
   Pan-STARRS
   NEOWISE
  All others

The NEO Observations Program is a result of a United States 1998 congressional directive to NASA to begin a program to identify objects 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) or larger to a confidence level of 90% or better. The Catalina Sky Survey, located at the Mount Lemmon Observatory in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, carries out searches for near-earth objects (NEOs), contributing to the congressionally-mandated goal.

In addition to identifying impact risks, the project also obtains other scientific information, including: improving the known population distribution in the main belt, finding the cometary distribution at larger perihelion distances, determining the distribution of NEOs as a product of collisional history and transport to the inner Solar System, and identifying potential targets for flight projects.

Techniques

The Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) uses three telescopes, a 1.5-meter (59 in) f/1.6 telescope on the peak of Mount Lemmon (MPC code G96), a 68 cm (27 in) f/1.7 Schmidt telescope near Mount Bigelow (MPC code 703), and a 1-meter (39 in) f/2.6 follow-up telescope also on Mount Lemmon (MPC code I52). The three telescopes are located in the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson, Arizona. The CSS southern hemisphere counterpart, the Siding Spring Survey (SSS), used a 0.5-meter (20 in) f/3 Uppsala Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. The 1.5-meter and 68-cm survey telescopes use identical, thermo-electrically cooled cameras and common software written by the CSS team. The cameras are cooled to approximately −100 °C (−148 °F) so their dark current is about 1 electron per hour. These 10,560×10,560-pixel cameras provide a field of view of 5 square degrees with the 1.5-m telescope and nearly 20 square degrees with the Catalina Schmidt. Nominal exposures are 30 seconds and the 1.5-m can reach objects fainter than 21.5 V in that time. [2] The 1-meter follow-up telescope uses a 2000×2000-pixel CCD detector which provides a field of view of 0.3 square degrees. Starting in 2019, CSS started using the 1.54-meter (61 in) Kuiper telescope situated on Mt. Bigelow for targeted follow-up for 7–12 nights per lunation.

CSS typically operates every clear night with the exception of a few nights centered on the full moon. The southern hemispheres' SSS in Australia ended in 2013 after funding was discontinued. [3]

Discoveries

In 2005, CSS became the most prolific NEO survey, surpassing Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) in total number of NEOs and potentially hazardous asteroids discovered each year since. As of 2020, the Catalina Sky Survey is responsible for the discovery of 47% of the total known NEO population. [4]

Notable discoveries

Minor planetDiscovery dateDescription
2006 JY26 May 6, 2006Nearly missed the Moon and the Earth on May 9–10, 2006, and may impact the Earth on May 3, 2073. [5]
2007 WD5 November 20, 2007Nearly missed Mars on January 9, 2008 [6] [7]
2008 TC3 October 6, 2008Struck Earth on October 7, 2008 [8]
2012 XE133 December 12, 2012Currently a temporary co-orbital of Venus. [9]
2014 AA January 1, 2014Struck Earth on January 2, 2014. [10] [11] [12]
2018 LA June 2, 2018Struck Earth on June 2, 2018. [13]
2024 RW1 September 4, 2024Struck Earth on September 4, 2024. [14]

List of discovered minor planets

For a complete listing of all minor planets discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey, see the index section in list of minor planets .

CSS/SSS team

The CSS team is headed by D. Carson Fuls of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona. [15]

The full CSS team is:

SSS

Educational outreach

The CSS has helped with Astronomy Camp by showing campers how they detect NEOs. They even played a role in an astrophotography exercise with the 2006 Adult Astronomy Camp ending up with a picture that was featured on Astronomy Picture of the Day. [16]

Catalina Outer Solar System Survey

The Zooniverse project Catalina Outer Solar System Survey [17] is a citizen science project and is listed as a NASA citizen science project. [18] In this project, the volunteers search for trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) in pre-processed images of the Catalina Sky Survey. Computers can detect the motion of TNOs, but humans must check whether this motion is real. [19] [20] Upon agreement with the volunteers, they will be cited as "measurers" in the submission of the astrometry to the Minor Planet Center. [21] The project already found previously known TNOs, including 47171 Lempo, (445473) 2010 VZ98 , and (144897) 2004 UX10 . [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Near-Earth object</span> Small Solar System body with an orbit that can bring it close to Earth

A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body orbiting the Sun whose closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 times the Earth–Sun distance. This definition applies to the object's orbit around the Sun, rather than its current position, thus an object with such an orbit is considered an NEO even at times when it is far from making a close approach of Earth. If an NEO's orbit crosses the Earth's orbit, and the object is larger than 140 meters (460 ft) across, it is considered a potentially hazardous object (PHO). Most known PHOs and NEOs are asteroids, but about 0.35% are comets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asteroid impact avoidance</span> Methods to prevent destructive asteroid hits

Asteroid impact avoidance encompasses the methods by which near-Earth objects (NEO) on a potential collision course with Earth could be diverted away, preventing destructive impact events. An impact by a sufficiently large asteroid or other NEOs would cause, depending on its impact location, massive tsunamis or multiple firestorms, and an impact winter caused by the sunlight-blocking effect of large quantities of pulverized rock dust and other debris placed into the stratosphere. A collision 66 million years ago between the Earth and an object approximately 10 kilometers wide is thought to have produced the Chicxulub crater and triggered the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event that is understood by the scientific community to have caused the extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spaceguard</span> Efforts to study asteroids that might impact Earth

The term Spaceguard loosely refers to a number of efforts to discover, catalogue, and study near-Earth objects (NEO), especially those that may impact Earth.

Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) was a program run by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, surveying the sky for near-Earth objects. NEAT was conducted from December 1995 until April 2007, at GEODSS on Hawaii, as well as at Palomar Observatory in California. With the discovery of more than 40 thousand minor planets, NEAT has been one of the most successful programs in this field, comparable to the Catalina Sky Survey, LONEOS and Mount Lemmon Survey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spacewatch</span> Astronomical survey that specializes in the study of minor planets

The Spacewatch Project is an astronomical survey that specializes in the study of minor planets, including various types of asteroids and comets at University of Arizona telescopes on Kitt Peak near Tucson, Arizona. The Spacewatch Project has been active longer than any other similar currently active programs.

James Whitney Young is an American astronomer who worked in the field of asteroid research. After nearly 47 years with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at their Table Mountain Facility, Young retired July 16, 2009.

2006 RH120 is a tiny near-Earth asteroid and fast rotator with a diameter of approximately 2–3 meters that ordinarily orbits the Sun but makes close approaches to the Earth–Moon system around every twenty years, when it can temporarily enter Earth orbit through temporary satellite capture (TSC). Most recently, it was in Earth orbit from July 2006 to July 2007, during which time it was never more than 0.0116 AU (1.74 million km) from Earth. As a consequence of its temporary orbit around the Earth, it is currently the second smallest asteroid in the Solar System with a well-known orbit, after 2021 GM1. Until given a minor planet designation on 18 February 2008, the object was known as 6R10DB9, an internal identification number assigned by the Catalina Sky Survey.

2007 WD5 is an Apollo asteroid some 50 m (160 ft) in diameter and a Mars-crosser asteroid first observed on 20 November 2007, by Andrea Boattini of the Catalina Sky Survey. Early observations of 2007 WD5 caused excitement amongst the scientific community when it was estimated as having as high as a 1 in 25 chance of colliding with Mars on 30 January 2008. However, by 9 January 2008, additional observations allowed NASA's Near Earth Object Program (NEOP) to reduce the uncertainty region resulting in only a 1-in-10,000 chance of impact. 2007 WD5 most likely passed Mars at a distance of 6.5 Mars radii. Due to this relatively small distance and the uncertainty level of the prior observations, the gravitational effects of Mars on its trajectory are unknown and, according to Steven Chesley of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Near-Earth Object program, 2007 WD5 is currently considered 'lost' (see lost asteroids).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potentially hazardous object</span> Hazardous near-Earth asteroid or comet

A potentially hazardous object (PHO) is a near-Earth object – either an asteroid or a comet – with an orbit that can make close approaches to the Earth and which is large enough to cause significant regional damage in the event of impact. They are conventionally defined as having a minimum orbit intersection distance with Earth of less than 0.05 astronomical units and an absolute magnitude of 22 or brighter, the latter of which roughly corresponds to a size larger than 140 meters. More than 99% of the known potentially hazardous objects are no impact threat over the next 100 years. As of September 2022, just 17 of the known potentially hazardous objects listed on the Sentry Risk Table could not be excluded as potential threats over the next hundred years. Over hundreds if not thousands of years though, the orbits of some "potentially hazardous" asteroids can evolve to live up to their namesake.

Richard A. Kowalski is an American astronomer who has discovered numerous asteroids and comets, among them, many near-Earth objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 KQ</span>

2010 KQ is a small asteroid-like object that has been discovered in an orbit about the Sun that is so similar to the Earth's orbit that scientists strongly suspect it to be a rocket stage that escaped years ago from the Earth–Moon system. The object was discovered on May 16, 2010 by Richard Kowalski at the Catalina Sky Survey, and has subsequently been observed by many observers, including Bill Ryan and Peter Birtwhistle (England). It was given the asteroid designation 2010 KQ by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who identified its orbit as being very similar to that of the Earth.

<span class="nowrap">2011 CQ<sub>1</sub></span> 2nd closest non-impacting Earth approach

2011 CQ1 is a meteoroid discovered on 4 February 2011 by Richard A. Kowalski, at the Catalina Sky Survey. On the same day the meteoroid passed within 0.85 Earth radii (5,480 kilometers (3,410 mi)) of Earth's surface, and was perturbed from the Apollo class to the Aten class of near-Earth objects. With a relative velocity of only 9.7 km/s, had the asteroid passed less than 0.5 Earth radii from Earth's surface, it would have fallen as a brilliant fireball. The meteoroid is between 80 centimeters (31 in) and 2.6 meters (100 in) wide. The meteoroid was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 5 February 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Sagra Observatory</span> Observatory

La Sagra Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in the province of Granada, Spain. It uses four robotic telescopes both designed and built by the scientists of the Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca (OAM) who operate them remotely by telecontrol daily, discharging data from Mallorca using the Internet, to process them by means of algorithms designed "in house" which helped to detect asteroid 367943 Duende. among the other 1706 asteroids, with a 12th place in the ranking of asteroid discoveries. Its activities include, as part of its La Sagra Sky Survey, tracking small Solar System bodies, particularly near-Earth objects, and space debris.

(523662) 2012 MU2, provisional designation 2012 MU2, is a sub-kilometer asteroid on an eccentric orbit, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group. It was discovered on 18 June 2012 by astronomers of the Catalina Sky Survey at an apparent magnitude of 19.9 using a 0.68-meter (27 in) Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope. It has an estimated diameter of 240 meters (790 ft). The asteroid was listed on Sentry Risk Table with a Torino Scale rating of 1 on 23 June 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 AA</span>

2014 AA was a small Apollo near-Earth asteroid roughly 2–4 meters in diameter that struck Earth on 2 January 2014. It was discovered on 1 January 2014 by Richard Kowalski at the Mount Lemmon Survey at an apparent magnitude of 19 using a 1.52-meter (60 in) reflecting telescope at Mount Lemmon Observatory. 2014 AA was only observed over a short observation arc of about 70 minutes, and entered Earth's atmosphere about 21 hours after discovery. Nonetheless, it remains one of only a few asteroids observed before impact.

<span class="nowrap">(671294) 2014 JO<sub>25</sub></span> Near-Earth asteroid discovered in 2014.

(671294) 2014 JO25 is a near-Earth asteroid. It was discovered in May 2014 by astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona - a project of NASA's NEO (Near Earth Object) Observations Program in collaboration with the University of Arizona.

<span class="nowrap">(505657) 2014 SR<sub>339</sub></span> Asteroid of the Apollo group

(505657) 2014 SR339, provisional designation 2014 SR339, is a dark and elongated asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group, approximately 970 meters (3,200 feet) in diameter. It was discovered on 30 September 2014, by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer telescope (WISE) in Earth's orbit. Closely observed at Goldstone and Arecibo in February 2018, it has a rotation period of 8.7 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asteroid impact prediction</span> Prediction of the dates and times of asteroids impacting Earth

Asteroid impact prediction is the prediction of the dates and times of asteroids impacting Earth, along with the locations and severities of the impacts.

<span class="nowrap">(481394) 2006 SF<sub>6</sub></span>

(481394) 2006 SF6 is a sub-kilometer near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Aten group, approximately 300 meters (1,000 feet) in diameter. It was discovered on 17 September 2006, by the Catalina Sky Survey at Catalina Station in Arizona. On 21 November 2019, it passed Earth at a distance of 11 lunar distances (0.0288 AU), which is the object's closest flyby for centuries. The stony A/S-type asteroid is highly elongated in shape and has a rotation period of 11.5 hours.

References

  1. "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  2. "Last night at G96 I have very good conditions, high transparency and sub-arcsecond seeing and for at least one NEO candidate at 21.8 V". yahoo.com. Retrieved 5 April 2018.[ dead link ]
  3. Safi, Michael (20 October 2014). "Earth at risk after cuts close comet-spotting program, scientists warn". The Guardian . Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  4. NEO discovery statistics Archived 2017-04-03 at the Wayback Machine from JPL. Shows the number of asteroids of various types (potentially hazardous, size > 1 km, etc.) that different programs have discovered, by year.
  5. Steve Chesley, Paul Chodas and Don Yeomans (September 15, 2011). "2006 JY26 Earth Impact Risk Summary". NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office. Archived from the original on 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2013-05-11.
  6. "Catalina Sky Survey Discovers Space Rock That Could Hit Mars". Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved 2007-12-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. Steve Chesley, Paul Chodas and Don Yeomans (January 9, 2008). "2007 WD5 Mars Collision Effectively Ruled Out – Impact Odds now 1 in 10,000". NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office. Archived from the original on 2008-01-11. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
  8. "Asteroid to be harmless fireball over Earth". CNN. October 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  9. de la Fuente Marcos, Carlos; de la Fuente Marcos, Raúl (June 2013). "Asteroid 2012 XE133, a transient companion to Venus". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 432 (2): 886–893. arXiv: 1303.3705 . Bibcode:2013MNRAS.432..886D. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stt454 .
  10. "The First Discovered Asteroid of 2014 Collides With The Earth". NASA JPL. April 27, 2014. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  11. Farnocchia, Davide; Chesley, Steven R.; Brown, Peter G.; Chodas, Paul W. (August 1, 2016). "The trajectory and atmospheric impact of asteroid 2014 AA". Icarus . 274: 327–333. Bibcode:2016Icar..274..327F. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2016.02.056.
  12. de la Fuente Marcos, C.; de la Fuente Marcos, R.; Mialle, P. (October 13, 2016). "Homing in for New Year: impact parameters and pre-impact orbital evolution of meteoroid 2014 AA". Astrophysics and Space Science . 361 (11): 358 (33 pp.). arXiv: 1610.01055 . Bibcode:2016Ap&SS.361..358D. doi:10.1007/s10509-016-2945-3. S2CID   119251345.
  13. "Tiny Asteroid Discovered Saturday Disintegrates Hours Later Over Southern Africa". NASA/JPL. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 14 Mar 2019.
  14. Tingley, Brett (September 4, 2024). "Tiny asteroid will hit Earth today, burn up over Philippines. 'Discovered this morning,' ESA says". Space.com .
  15. "Catalina Sky Survey – Directory". Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  16. "APOD: 2006 August 31 – Extra Galaxies". antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  17. Fuls, Carson. "Catalina Outer Solar System Survey". www.zooniverse.org. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  18. "Citizen Science | Science Mission Directorate". science.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  19. Fuls, Carson. "Catalina Outer Solar System Survey >> Research – Zooniverse". www.zooniverse.org. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  20. "Comb the Edges of the Solar System with the Catalina Outer Solar System Survey | Science Mission Directorate". science.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  21. Fuls, Carson. "Catalina Outer Solar System Survey >> FAQ – Zooniverse". www.zooniverse.org. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  22. Fuls, Carson. "Catalina Outer Solar System Survey >> Results – Zooniverse". www.zooniverse.org. Retrieved 2020-08-25.