Spacewatch

Spacewatch
Spacewatch 1.8-meter telescope
Coordinates31°57′44″N 111°36′01″W / 31.96219°N 111.60034°W / 31.96219; -111.60034 Edit this at Wikidata
Observatory code691
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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]

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]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC-Discoverers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ McMillan, Robert (2001). "The Spacewatch Project" (PDF). National Space Society. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. ^ "The Spacewatch Project". University of Arizona. 2010.
  4. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "Spacewatch telescope detects its first asteroids". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  6. ^ 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".