[meteorite-list] PS1 Telescope Establishes Near-Earth Asteroid Discovery Record

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:57:07 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201103010157.p211v7VW005028_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-releases/19asteroids/

PS1 Telescope Establishes Near-Earth Asteroid Discovery Record

For immediate release
February 24, 2011

Contacts:

Dr. Nick Kaiser
1-808-520-3680
kaiser at ifa.hawaii.edu

Dr. Richard Wainscoat
1-808-956-8429
rjw at ifa.hawaii.edu

Ms. Louise Good
1-808-956-9403
good at ifa.hawaii.edu


Scientists battle time and weather to confirm discoveries

The Pan-STARRS PS1 telescope on Haleakala, Maui, discovered 19
near-Earth asteroids on the night of January 29, the most asteroids
discovered by one telescope on a single night.

"This record number of discoveries shows that PS1 is the world's most
powerful telescope for this kind of study," said Nick Kaiser, head of
the Pan-STARRS project. "NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research
Laboratory's support of this project illustrates how seriously they
are taking the threat from near-Earth asteroids."

Pan-STARRS software engineer Larry Denneau spent that Saturday night in
his University of Hawaii at Manoa office in Honolulu processing the PS1
data as it was transmitted from the telescope over the Internet. During
the night and into the next afternoon, he and others came up with 30
possible new near-Earth asteroids.

Asteroids are discovered because they appear to move against the
background of stars. To confirm asteroid discoveries, scientists must
carefully re-observe them several times within 12-72 hours to define
their orbits, otherwise they are likely to be "lost."

Denneau and colleagues quickly sent their discoveries to the Minor
Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., which collects and disseminates data
about asteroids and comets, so that other astronomers can re-observe the
objects.

"Usually there are several mainland observatories that would help us
confirm our discoveries, but widespread snowstorms there closed down
many of them, so we had to scramble to confirm many of the discoveries
ourselves," noted Institute for Astronomy astronomer Richard Wainscoat.

Wainscoat, astronomer David Tholen, and graduate student Marco Micheli
spent the next three nights searching for the asteroids using telescopes
at Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii.

On Sunday night, they confirmed that two of the asteroids were
near-Earth asteroids before snow on Mauna Kea forced the telescopes to
close. On Monday night, they confirmed nine more before fog set in.

On Tuesday night, they searched for four, but found only one. After
Tuesday, the remaining unconfirmed near-Earth asteroids had moved too
far to be found again.

Telescopes in Arizona, Illinois, Italy, Japan, Kansas, New Mexico, and
the United Kingdom, and the Faulkes Telescope on Haleakala also helped
to confirm seven of the discoveries.

Two of the asteroids, it turns out, have orbits that come extremely
close to Earth's. There is no immediate danger, but a collision in the
next century or so, while unlikely, cannot yet be ruled out. Astronomers
will be paying close attention to these objects.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pan-STARRS Project is being led by the University of Hawaii
Institute for Astronomy, and exploits the unique combination of superb
observing sites and technical and scientific expertise available in
Hawaii. Funding for the development of the observing system has been
provided by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory. The PS1
Surveys have been made possible through contributions by the Institute
for Astronomy, the University of Hawaii, the Pan-STARRS Project Office,
the Max Planck Society and its participating institutes, the Max Planck
Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg and the Max Planck Institute for
Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, the Johns Hopkins University, Durham
University, the University of Edinburgh, the Queen's University Belfast,
the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the Las Cumbres
Observatory Global Telescope Network, Incorporated, the National Central
University of Taiwan, and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration under Grant No. NNX08AR22G issued through the Planetary
Science Division of the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Any opinions,
findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article
are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Founded in 1967, the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii
at Manoa conducts research into galaxies, cosmology, stars, planets, and
the sun. Its faculty and staff are also involved in astronomy education,
deep space missions, and in the development and management of the
observatories on Haleakala and Mauna Kea.

Established in 1907 and fully accredited by the Western Association of
Schools and Colleges, the University of Hawaii is the state's sole
public system of higher education. The UH System provides an array of
undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees and community programs
on 10 campuses and through educational, training, and research centers
across the state. UH enrolls more than 50,000 students from Hawaii, the
U.S. mainland, and around the world.
Received on Mon 28 Feb 2011 08:57:07 PM PST