Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey

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Minor planets discovered: 20 [1]
see § List of discovered minor planets

The Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey (PCAS) was an astronomical survey, initiated by American astronomers Eleanor Helin and Eugene Shoemaker at the U.S Palomar Observatory, California, in 1973. [2] [3] [4] [5] The program is responsible for the discovery of 95 near-Earth Objects including 17 comets, [6] while the Minor Planet Center directly credits PCAS with the discovery of 20 numbered minor planets during 1993–1994. [1] PCAS ran for nearly 25 years until June 1995. It had an international extension, INAS, and was the immediate predecessor of the outstandingly successful NEAT program. [6]

Contents

Notable discoveries

The first NEO discovered by PACS was (5496) 1973 NA, an Apollo asteroid with an exceptional orbital inclination of 68°, the most highly inclined minor planet known until 1999. In 1976, Eleanor Helin discovered 2062 Aten, [7] the first of a new class of asteroids called the Aten asteroids with small orbits that are never far from Earth's orbit. As a result, these objects have a particularly high probability of colliding with the Earth. In 1979, Helin discovered an Apollo-type asteroid, that they later identified with the comet 4015 Wilson–Harrington. [8] It was the first confirmation that a comet can evolve into an asteroid after it has degassed. [6]

List of discovered minor planets

(7029) 1993 XT2 14 December 1993 list
(9072) 1993 RX3 12 September 1993 list
(9078) 1994 PB2 9 August 1994 list
(10363) 1994 UP1131 October 1994 list
(10564) 1993 XQ214 December 1993 list
(13594) 1994 PC29 August 1994 list
(14476) 1993 XW214 December 1993 list
(14912) 1993 RP312 September 1993 list
(15344) 1994 PA29 August 1994 list
(18435) 1994 GW1014 April 1994 list
(18436) 1994 GY1014 April 1994 list
(24781) 1993 RU312 September 1993 list
(24797) 1994 PD29 August 1994 list
(24798) 1994 PF29 August 1994 list
(26868) 1993 RS312 September 1993 list
(37671) 1994 UY1131 October 1994 list
(39620) 1994 PE29 August 1994 list
(46623) 1994 GV1014 April 1994 list
(52418) 1994 GX1014 April 1994 list
(120503) 1993 RW312 September 1993 list

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. November 16, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  2. ↑ Leverington, David (2003). Planetary vistas : a history of planetary astronomy up to the 21st century. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 339–340. ISBN   9780521808408.
  3. ↑ Gehrels, Tom, ed. (1994). Hazards due to comets and asteroids. Tucson: Univ. of Arizona Press. pp. 129–131, 137. ISBN   9780816515059.
  4. ↑ Barnes-Svarney, Patricia (2003). Asteroid : earth destroyer or new frontier? (Paperback ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group. p. 246. ISBN   9780738208855.
  5. ↑ Levy, David H. (2002). Shoemaker by Levy: the man who made an impact. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. pp. 167–174. ISBN   9780691113258.
  6. 1 2 3 Helin, Eleanor F.; Pravdo, Steven H.; Rabinowitz, David L.; Lawrence, Kenneth J. (May 1997). "Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) Program". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences: 6. Bibcode:1997NYASA.822....6H. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1997.tb48329.x . Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  7. ↑ "2062 Aten (1976 AA)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  8. ↑ "4015 Wilson-Harrington (1979 VA)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved January 7, 2017.

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