A Method for Semi-Automated Minor Planet Detection

1
A Method for Semi-Automated Minor Planet Detection
Equipment We are using a Meade 8
Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at focal ratio f/6.3
(focal length is 1280 mm) along with an SBIG
ST-7E CCD, which gives a coverage of about 1.45
pixels per arcsecond. Optimum coverage is about 2
pixels per arcsecond (smaller than that and the
field of view becomes too small and the
sensitivity of the system drops), so our ratio is
a little on the small side. Although we havent
yet had the chance to try our system on critical
objects, we were able to get fairly good images
of the asteroid 2 Pallas (see section below).
The Johnson filters we have are mounted in an
SBIG CFW-8 filter wheel.
Michael Sprengeler Dr. Timothy R.
Young University of North Dakota Dept. Of Physics
Abstract The goal of NASA's Near-Earth Object
Project is to locate and record 90 of
Earth-threatening objects in our Solar System in
the next decade. Because of this, there is a
need for assistance from the observing community
at large with the discovery and gathering of data
on these objects. A method of semi-automated
data collection on NEOs has been developed in the
form of a hardware/software combination. Results
of our observations using this method will be
presented.
Motivation Our objective from the beginning has
been to do follow-up work on critical and new
objects listed by the Minor Planet Center
(http//cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/mpc.html). The
main motivation behind this objective is to
automate a process that is time-consuming and
something that few are doing.

• Software
• We have chosen a software package from Software
  Bisque that we think suits our needs well. It is
  comprised of TheSky Version 5, CCDSoft, and
  Orchestrate.
• TheSky is a planetarium program that is used to
  display the evening sky and aid in locating
  objects. This program is also used to send
  commands to the telescope. TheSky can also be
  used to creat observation lists that can then be
  exported into Orchestrate.
• CCDSoft is the program from Software Bisque that
  is designed to manage a CCD camera and motorized
  filter wheel. It also has three features that
  are very useful for our objective Photometry,
  Auto-astrometry, and a Supernova/Minor Planet
  Search. Photometry and Auto-astrometry are
  useful for determining the approximate magnitude
  and position of the minor planet in question,
  which can then be submitted to the Minor Planet
  Center. The Supernova/Minor Planet Search is a
  good way to automate searching for minor planets
  and other transients in images.
• Orchestrate is the program that ties it all
  together. It uses a script to automate all the
  functions that a telescope/CCD setup may use.
  With it, we can write scripts that contain all
  the information for a nights observing schedule,
  including telescope slews, filter changes,
  exposure lengths, and time delays. Later it may
  be possible to operate the setup remotely, as
  Orchestrate utilizes an Inbox folder. Scripts
  can be added to this folder over a LAN and the
  program automatically loads and begins running
  them.

The images of 2 Pallas (below) are interesting in
that the asteroid appears very bright in the red
and infrared bands. Pallas is a C-type (C
standing for carbonaceous) minor planet, and is
similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites.
The C-type asteroids are very dark and are good
blackbodies this is demonstrated well by Pallas
as it radiates the energy it gets from the Sun
strongly in the long wavelengths.