Download The Catalina Sky Survey NEO Follow-up

The Catalina Sky Survey:
NEO Follow-up
Eric J. Christensen + CSS Team
LSST All Hands Meeting : 14 August 2012
CSS Overview
• Funded by NASA’s NEOO program
• 100% dedicated to NEO survey + follow-up
• Assets: 3 survey telescopes + 1 follow up telescope
• Cadence: 4 x 30 s images, deltaT ~10 min.
• Filters: none
• NEO candidates are pipeline-generated, human-
validated in near-real time
IAU Minor Planet Center
• Accepts and publishes astrometry of minor
planets (“broker”, “subscriber” + “publisher”)
• Calculates and publishes orbits of minor
planets and comets
• Provides tools and services for observers
(NEOCP + Blog, MPCES, MPChecker)
Lifecycle of a NEO discovery
• Initial detection of NEO candidate
• Astrometry reported to Minor Planet Center
TP49ECD
TP49ECD
TP49ECD
TP49ECD
C2012
C2012
C2012
C2012
08
08
08
08
07.69817
07.70977
07.72124
07.73264
23
23
23
23
41
41
41
41
59.33
51.87
44.46
37.17
-32
-32
-32
-32
55
55
55
55
39.4
28.4
17.4
06.1
18.4
18.2
18.1
18.1
V
V
V
V
E12
E12
E12
E12
• Public posting on NEO Confirmation Page
• Follow-up: confirmation and orbit refinement
• Designation + publication (MPECs)
• Additional follow-up for orbit refinement
Stages of Follow-up
• Astrometric follow-up is useful at different times
• Same-night: reality check + orbit refinement
• Subsequent night(s): leading to “discovery”
• Post-discovery:
– Same + subsequent apparitions (recovery)
– Refines orbit, prevents NEOs from becoming lost
CSS Follow-up : now
• Same-night follow-up often conducted on survey
telescope(s)
• NEO candidates posted <15 min after reporting
• Bright objects (< V~20) usually followed by other
observing stations, often amateurs
• Faint object follow-up conducted on our 1.5-m,
or by others on 1 - 2-m class telescopes
CSS Follow-up : soon
• 1-m telescope under commissioning
• 30 arcmin circular FOV, BVRI filters
• Robotically operated, queue scheduled –
programmed during day by human
• Will accept, prioritize, and execute requests,
return data to requestor
CSS Follow-up : soon
• Initial stages of collaboration with Las Cumbres
Observatory Global Telescope Network
• Geographic distribution of LCOGT is ideal for oncall NEO follow-up
– Access to near-Sun regions 3-4x per day
– 24-hour monitoring of incoming impactors
• We are investing in follow-up infrastructure in
anticipation of increased discovery rate
• Larger cameras for survey telescopes: 1
funded, 1 proposed
• We are investing in follow-up infrastructure in
anticipation of increased discovery rate
• Larger cameras for survey telescopes: 1
funded, 1 proposed
0.7-m Schmidt
0.7-m Schmidt
1.5-m
1.5-m
FOV 1.2 deg
1.0” pixels
Current
FOV: 5.0 sq. deg.
0.77” pixels
* Funded *
FOV: 8.1 sq. deg.
2.5” pixels
FOV: 19.4 sq. deg.
1.5” pixels
* Proposed *
Current
Questions?