Spacewatch

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Spacewatch
Spacewatch 1.8m telescope.jpg
Spacewatch 1.8-meter telescope
Coordinates 31°57′44″N111°36′01″W / 31.96219°N 111.60034°W / 31.96219; -111.60034 OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Observatory code 691
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Minor planets discovered: 169,873  [1]
see Category:Discoveries by the Spacewatch project

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. [2]

Contents

Spacewatch was founded in 1980 by Tom Gehrels and Robert S. McMillan, and is currently led by astronomer Melissa Brucker at the University of Arizona. Spacewatch uses several telescopes on Kitt Peak for follow-up observations of near-Earth objects. [3]

The Spacewatch Project uses three telescopes of apertures 0.9-m, 1.8-m, and 2.3-m. These telescopes are located on Kitt Peak, and the first two are dedicated to the purpose of locating Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). [4]

The 36 inch (0.9 meter) telescope on Kitt Peak has been in use by Spacewatch since 1984, and since 2000 the 72 inch (1.8 meter) Spacewatch telescope. [5] The 36 inch telescope continued in use and was further upgraded, in particular, the telescopes use electronic detectors. [5]

Spacewatch's 1.8-meter telescope is the largest in the world that is used exclusively for asteroids and comets. [6] It can find asteroids and comets anywhere from the space near Earth to regions beyond the orbit of Neptune and to do astrometry on the fainter of objects that are already known. The telescope is pointed on stars and tracked with a real time video-rate camera at folded prime focus.

Spacewatch was the first to use CCDs to survey the sky for comets and asteroids. When added, they permitted faster coverage of the sky than the pre-2002 system. [7]

Each year, Spacewatch observes approximately 35 radar targets, 50 near-Earth objects, and 100 potential spacecraft rendezvous destinations. From 2013 to 2016, Spacewatch observed half of all NEOs and potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) observed by anyone in that time. [4] As of 2022, Spacewatch had discovered over 179,000 minor planets numbered by the Minor Planet Center. [8]

History

The 1.8 meter Spacewatch telescope and its building on Kitt Peak were dedicated on June 7, 1997 for the purpose of finding previously unknown asteroids and comets. [9] Since January 1 2003, Spacewatch has made ~2400 separate-night detections of Near-Earth Objects. [6]

There was an upgrade to the 0.9 meter which was funded by NASA and the Kirsch Foundation.

The Spacewatch Project is the longest-running of all present programs of astrometry of solar system objects. [4]

Spacewatch in Action

Spacewatch conducted a survey that was proposed May 12, 2006, and accepted on November 13, 2006. This survey used data taken over 34 months by the University of Arizona’s Spacewatch Project based at Steward Observatory, Kitt Peak. Spacewatch revisited the same sky area every three to seven nights in order to track cohorts of main-belt asteroids. This survey discovered one new large Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) and detected six others. This proved that new sweeps of the sky are productive even if they have been previously examined simply due to the complexities of running large surveys over many nights and variable conditions. [10]

Notable discoveries

Number of NEOs detected by various projects: .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} 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

See also

Related Research Articles

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.

1998 KY26 is a nearly spherical sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Apollo group. It measures approximately 30 meters (100 feet) in diameter and is a fast rotator, having a rotational period of only 10.7 minutes. It was first observed on 2 June 1998, by the Spacewatch survey at Kitt Peak National Observatory during 6 days during which it passed 800,000 kilometers (half a million miles) away from Earth (a little more than twice the Earth–Moon distance).

(35396) 1997 XF11 (provisional designation 1997 XF11) is a kilometer-sized asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object, Mars-crosser and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group.

Roy A. Tucker (1951 – 2021) was an American astronomer best known for the co-discovery of near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis (formerly known as 2004 MN4) along with David J. Tholen and Fabrizio Bernardi of the University of Hawaii. He was a prolific discoverer of minor planets, credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 702 numbered minor planets between 1996 and 2010. He also discovered two comets: 328P/LONEOS–Tucker and C/2004 Q1, a Jupiter-family and near-parabolic comet, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon J. Garradd</span> Australian astronomer and photographer

Gordon John Garradd is an Australian amateur astronomer and photographer from Loomberah, New South Wales. He has discovered numerous asteroids and comets, including the hyperbolic comet C/2009 P1, and four novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The asteroid and Mars-crosser, 5066 Garradd, was named in his honour.

<span class="nowrap">2004 HR<sub>56</sub></span>

2004 HR56, is a micro-asteroid, classified as near-Earth object belonging to the Apollo group. It was first observed by Spacewatch at Kitt Peak National Observatory on 25 April 2004.

2059 Baboquivari, provisional designation 1963 UA, is an asteroid classified as near-Earth object of the Amor group, approximately 1.9 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by the Indiana Asteroid Program in 1963, it was later named after the Baboquivari Mountains in Arizona, United States.

(292220) 2006 SU49, provisional designation 2006 SU49, is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group that had a small chance of impacting Earth in 2029.

6344 P-L is an unnumbered, sub-kilometer asteroid and suspected dormant comet, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group that was first observed on 24 September 1960, by astronomers and asteroid searchers Tom Gehrels, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, and Cornelis Johannes van Houten during the Palomar–Leiden survey at Palomar Observatory.

(277810) 2006 FV35, provisional designation 2006 FV35, is a sub-kilometer near-Earth asteroid in the dynamical Apollo asteroid group, discovered by Spacewatch at Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona, on 29 March 2006. It is a quasi-satellite of Earth. It is also notable for having a low delta-v requirement for rendezvous. Although its orbital period is almost exactly 1 year, the orbit of 2006 FV35 has a high eccentricity which causes it to cross the paths of both Venus and Mars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">(4953) 1990 MU</span>

(4953) 1990 MU is a large Earth-crossing asteroid (ECA) belonging to the Apollo group of near-Earth objects which also cross the orbits of Mars and Venus. At approximately 3 km in diameter, it is one of the largest known ECAs. It has been assigned a permanent number from the Minor Planet Center (4953) indicating that its orbit has been very well determined. With an observation arc of 45 years, the asteroid's trajectory and uncertainty regions are well known through to the year 2186.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">(136617) 1994 CC</span> Near-Earth asteroid

(136617) 1994 CC is a sub-kilometer trinary asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group.

(7025) 1993 QA is a sub-kilometer asteroid classified as near-Earth object of the Apollo and Amor group, respectively. It was discovered on 16 August 1993, by astronomers of the Spacewatch program at the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, United States. The asteroid measures approximately half a kilometer in diameter and has a short rotation period of 2.5057 hours.

(225312) 1996 XB27, provisional designation 1996 XB27, is a bright mini-asteroid, classified as near-Earth object of the Amor group, approximately 84 meters in diameter. It was discovered on 12 December 1996, by astronomers of the Spacewatch program at the Kitt Peak National Observatory near of Tucson, Arizona, United States.

(251732) 1998 HG49, provisional designation 1998 HG49, is a sub-kilometer asteroid and near-Earth object of the Amor group, approximately 200 meters in diameter. It was discovered on 27 April 1998 by astronomers of the Spacewatch program at the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, United States.

<span class="nowrap">2013 YP<sub>139</sub></span> Near-Earth asteroid in 2013

2013 YP139 is a dark sub-kilometer asteroid on a highly eccentric orbit, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group, approximately 400 meters (1,300 feet) in diameter.

1993 DA is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Aten group. It has only been observed during 5 days in February 1993, and not been detected ever since. The small body measures approximately 20 meters in diameter based on an absolute magnitude of 26.4, and has an Earth minimum orbital intersection distance of 13.8 lunar distances or 0.0355 AU (5,310,000 km).

11885 Summanus is a dark asteroid and large near-Earth object of the Apollo group. It was discovered by astronomers with the Spacewatch programm at Kitt Peak Observatory on 25 September 1990. The object has a rotation period of 7.3 hours and measures approximately 1.3 kilometers in diameter. It was named after Summanus, the Roman deity of nocturnal lightning and thunder.

<span class="nowrap">(300163) 2006 VW<sub>139</sub></span> Asteroid in the asteroid belt

(300163) 2006 VW139 (provisional designation 2006 VW139, periodic comet designation 288P/2006 VW139) is a binary active asteroid and main-belt comet from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. The object was discovered by Spacewatch in 2006. Its binary nature was confirmed by the Hubble Space Telescope in September 2016. Both primary and its minor-planet moon are similar in mass and size, making it a true binary system. The components are estimated to measure 1.8 kilometers in diameter, orbiting each other at a wide separation of 104 kilometers every 135 days.

(457175) 2008 GO98 (provisional designation 2008 GO98) with cometary number 362P, is a Jupiter family comet in a quasi-Hilda orbit within the outermost regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 8 April 2008, by astronomers of the Spacewatch program at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. This presumably carbonaceous body has a diameter of approximately 15 kilometers (9 miles) and rotation period of 10.7 hours.

References

  1. ↑ "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  2. ↑ McMillan, Robert (2001). "The Spacewatch Project" (PDF). National Space Society. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. ↑ "The Spacewatch Project". University of Arizona. 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 McMillan, Robert S.; Larsen, Jeffrey A.; Bressi, Terrence H.; Scotti, James V.; Mastaler, Ronald A.; Tubbiolo, Andrew F. (August 2015). "Spacewatch Astrometry and Photometry of Near-Earth Objects". Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. 10 (S318): 317–318. doi: 10.1017/S1743921315006766 . S2CID   125071840.
  5. 1 2 "Spacewatch telescope detects its first asteroids". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  6. 1 2 McMillan, Robert S. (2007). "Spacewatch preparations for the era of deep all-sky surveys". Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. Symposium S236: Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, August 2006. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. p. 329. doi: 10.1017/S1743921307003407 . ISBN   978-0-521-86345-2. ISSN   1743-9213.
  7. ↑ "Home SPACEWATCH®". spacewatch.lpl.arizona.edu/. The University of Arizona. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  8. ↑ "IAU Minor Planet Center".
  9. ↑ Perry, Marcus L.; Bressi, Terrence; McMillan, Robert S.; Tubbiolo, Andrew; Barr, Lawrence D. (26 May 1998). Lewis, Hilton (ed.). "1.8-m Spacewatch telescope motion control system". Telescope Control Systems III. 3351: 450–465. Bibcode:1998SPIE.3351..450P. doi:10.1117/12.308809. S2CID   62230373.
  10. ↑ Larsen, Jeffrey A.; Roe, Eric S.; Albert, C. Elise; Descour, Anne S.; McMillan, Robert S.; Gleason, Arianna E.; Jedicke, Robert; Block, Miwa; Bressi, Terrence H.; Cochran, Kim C.; Gehrels, Tom; Montani, Joseph L.; Perry, Marcus L.; Read, Michael T.; Scotti, James V.; Tubbiolo, Andrew F. (1 April 2007). "The Search for Distant Objects in the Solar System Using Spacewatch". The Astronomical Journal. 133 (4): 1247–1270. Bibcode:2007AJ....133.1247L. doi:10.1086/511155. S2CID   29114253.
  11. ↑ Cowing, Keith. "17th moon of Jupiter discovered". Spaceref. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  12. ↑ "5145 Pholus (1992 AD)". JPL Small-Body Database Browser. Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  13. ↑ "9965 GNU". JPL Small-Body Database Browser. Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  14. ↑ "SDSS/SMASS asteroid taxonomy". people.roma2.infn.it.
  15. ↑ "9885 Linux". JPL Small-Body Database Browser. Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  16. ↑ "9882 Stallman". JPL Small-Body Database Browser. Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  17. ↑ "9793 Torvalds". JPL Small-Body Database Browser. Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  18. ↑ "20000 Varuna". JPL Small-Body Database Browser. Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  19. ↑ "coms06". www.ast.cam.ac.uk.
  20. ↑ "1998 KY26". JPL Small-Body Database Browser. Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  21. ↑ "65803 Didymos". JPL Small-Body Database Browser. Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  22. ↑ "MPEC 1997-Y11: 1997 XF11". Minor Planet Center.
  23. ↑ "MPEC 1999-L24: 1995 SM55, 1995 TL8, 1996 GQ21". Minor Planet Center.
  24. ↑ "(136617) 1994 CC, "Beta", and "Gamma"". johnstonsarchive.net.
  25. ↑ "Spacewatch Outer Solar System Discoveries". Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. University of Arizona. Archived from the original on 29 October 2008.
  26. ↑ "125P/Spacewatch". cometography.com.
  27. ↑ "174567 Varda". JPL Small-Body Database Browser. Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  28. ↑ "2013 BS45". IAU Minor Planet Center.
  29. ↑ "Spacewatch Recovery of Long-Lost Asteroid (719) Albert". spacewatch. The University of Arizona. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
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