Wikipedia

Catalina Sky Survey

Catalina Sky Survey(CSS;obs. code:703) is anastronomical surveyto discovercometsandasteroids.It is conducted at theSteward Observatory'sCatalina Station,located nearTucson, Arizona,in the United States.

Catalina Sky Survey
Alternative namesCSS
Coordinates32°25′01″N110°43′59″W/ 32.417°N 110.733°W/32.417; -110.733Edit this at Wikidata
Observatory code703
Websitecatalina.lpl.arizona.edu
[edit on Wikidata]
Minor planetsdiscovered: 25602 [1]
see§ List of discovered minor planets

CSS focuses on the search fornear-Earth objects,in particular on anypotentially hazardous asteroidthat may pose a threat ofimpact.Its counterpart in the southern hemisphere was theSiding Spring Survey(SSS), closed in 2013 due to loss of funding. CSS supersedes the photographicBigelow Sky Survey.

Mission

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Number ofNEOsdetected by various projects:
LINEAR
NEAT
Spacewatch
LONEOS		CSS
Pan-STARRS
NEOWISE
All others

The NEO Observations Program is a result of a United States 1998 congressional directive toNASAto begin a program to identify objects 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) or larger to a confidence level of 90% or better. The Catalina Sky Survey, located at theMount Lemmon Observatoryin theCatalina Mountainsnorth ofTucson,carries out searches for near-earth objects (NEOs), contributing to the congressionally-mandated goal.

In addition to identifying impact risks, the project also obtains other scientific information, including: improving the known population distribution in the main belt, finding the cometary distribution at largerperiheliondistances, determining the distribution of NEOs as a product of collisional history and transport to theinner Solar System,and identifying potential targets for flight projects.

Techniques

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The Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) uses three telescopes, a 1.5-meter (59 in) f/1.6 telescope on the peak ofMount Lemmon(MPC code G96), a 68 cm (27 in) f/1.7Schmidttelescope nearMount Bigelow(MPC code 703), and a 1-meter (39 in) f/2.6 follow-up telescope also onMount Lemmon(MPC code I52). The three telescopes are located in theSanta Catalina Mountainsnear Tucson, Arizona. The CSS southern hemisphere counterpart, theSiding Spring Survey(SSS), used a 0.5-meter (20 in) f/3Uppsala Schmidt telescopeatSiding Spring Observatoryin Australia. The 1.5-meter and 68-cm survey telescopes use identical,thermo-electrically cooledcameras and common software written by the CSS team. The cameras are cooled to approximately −100 °C (−148 °F) so theirdark currentis about 1 electron per hour. These 10,560×10,560-pixel cameras provide afield of viewof 5 square degrees with the 1.5-m telescope and nearly 20 square degrees with the Catalina Schmidt. Nominalexposuresare 30 seconds and the 1.5-m can reach objects fainter than 21.5Vin that time.[2]The 1-meter follow-up telescope uses a 2000×2000-pixel CCD detector which provides afield of viewof 0.3 square degrees. Starting in 2019, CSS started using the 1.54-meter (61 in) Kuiper telescope situated on Mt. Bigelow for targeted follow-up for 7–12 nights per lunation.

CSS typically operates every clear night with the exception of a few nights centered on thefull moon.The southern hemispheres' SSS in Australia ended in 2013 after funding was discontinued.[3]

Discoveries

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In 2005, CSS became the most prolific NEO survey, surpassingLincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research(LINEAR) in total number of NEOs and potentially hazardous asteroids discovered each year since. As of 2020, the Catalina Sky Survey is responsible for the discovery of 47% of the total known NEO population.[4]

Notable discoveries

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Minor planet Discovery date Description
2006 JY26 May 6, 2006 Nearly missed theMoonand theEarthon May 9–10, 2006, and may impact the Earth on May 3, 2073.[5]
2007 WD5 November 20, 2007 Nearly missedMarson January 9, 2008[6][7]
2008 TC3 October 6, 2008 Struck Earth on October 7, 2008[8]
2012 XE133 December 12, 2012 Currently a temporaryco-orbitalofVenus.[9]
2014 AA January 1, 2014 Struck Earth on January 2, 2014.[10][11][12]
2018 LA June 2, 2018 Struck Earth on June 2, 2018.[13]
2024 RW1 September 4, 2024 Struck Earth on September 4, 2024.[14]

List of discovered minor planets

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For a complete listing of all minor planets discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey,see theindexsection inlist of minor planets.

CSS/SSS team

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The CSS team is headed by D. Carson Fuls of theLunar and Planetary Laboratoryof theUniversity of Arizona.[15]

The full CSS team is:

SSS

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Educational outreach

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The CSS has helped withAstronomy Campby showing campers how they detect NEOs. They even played a role in an astrophotography exercise with the 2006 Adult Astronomy Camp ending up with a picture that was featured on Astronomy Picture of the Day.[16]

Catalina Outer Solar System Survey

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TheZooniverseprojectCatalina Outer Solar System Survey[17]is acitizen scienceproject and is listed as aNASAcitizen science project.[18]In this project, the volunteers search fortrans-Neptunian objects(TNOs) in pre-processed images of the Catalina Sky Survey. Computers can detect the motion of TNOs, but humans must check whether this motion is real.[19][20]Upon agreement with the volunteers, they will be cited as "measurers" in the submission of theastrometryto theMinor Planet Center.[21]The project already found previously known TNOs, including47171 Lempo,(445473) 2010 VZ98,and(144897) 2004 UX10.[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)".Minor Planet Center.12 January 2017.Retrieved2 February2017.
  2. ^"Last night at G96 I have very good conditions, high transparency and sub-arcsecond seeing and for at least one NEO candidate at 21.8 V".yahoo.com.Retrieved5 April2018.[dead link‍]
  3. ^Safi, Michael (20 October 2014)."Earth at risk after cuts close comet-spotting program, scientists warn".The Guardian.Retrieved25 November2015.
  4. ^NEO discovery statisticsArchived2017-04-03 at theWayback Machinefrom JPL. Shows the number of asteroids of various types (potentially hazardous, size > 1 km, etc.) that different programs have discovered, by year.
  5. ^Steve Chesley, Paul Chodas and Don Yeomans (September 15, 2011)."2006 JY26 Earth Impact Risk Summary".NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office. Archived fromthe originalon 2016-12-15.Retrieved2013-05-11.
  6. ^"Catalina Sky Survey Discovers Space Rock That Could Hit Mars".Archived from the original on May 10, 2008.Retrieved2007-12-22.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^Steve Chesley, Paul Chodas and Don Yeomans (January 9, 2008)."2007 WD5 Mars Collision Effectively Ruled Out – Impact Odds now 1 in 10,000".NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-01-11.Retrieved2008-01-09.
  8. ^"Asteroid to be harmless fireball over Earth".CNN.October 6, 2008.Retrieved2008-10-07.
  9. ^de la Fuente Marcos, Carlos; de la Fuente Marcos, Raúl (June 2013)."Asteroid 2012 XE133, a transient companion to Venus".Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.432(2): 886–893.arXiv:1303.3705.Bibcode:2013MNRAS.432..886D.doi:10.1093/mnras/stt454.
  10. ^"The First Discovered Asteroid of 2014 Collides With The Earth".NASA JPL.April 27, 2014. Archived fromthe originalon February 11, 2017.RetrievedApril 28,2014.
  11. ^Farnocchia, Davide; Chesley, Steven R.; Brown, Peter G.; Chodas, Paul W. (August 1, 2016). "The trajectory and atmospheric impact of asteroid 2014 AA".Icarus.274:327–333.Bibcode:2016Icar..274..327F.doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2016.02.056.
  12. ^de la Fuente Marcos, C.; de la Fuente Marcos, R.; Mialle, P. (October 13, 2016). "Homing in for New Year: impact parameters and pre-impact orbital evolution of meteoroid 2014 AA".Astrophysics and Space Science.361(11): 358 (33 pp.).arXiv:1610.01055.Bibcode:2016Ap&SS.361..358D.doi:10.1007/s10509-016-2945-3.S2CID119251345.
  13. ^"Tiny Asteroid Discovered Saturday Disintegrates Hours Later Over Southern Africa".NASA/JPL.Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Retrieved14 Mar2019.
  14. ^Tingley, Brett (September 4, 2024)."Tiny asteroid will hit Earth today, burn up over Philippines. 'Discovered this morning,' ESA says".Space.com.
  15. ^"Catalina Sky Survey – Directory".Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.Retrieved3 February2020.
  16. ^"APOD: 2006 August 31 – Extra Galaxies".antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov.Retrieved5 April2018.
  17. ^Fuls, Carson."Catalina Outer Solar System Survey".www.zooniverse.org.Retrieved2020-08-25.
  18. ^"Citizen Science | Science Mission Directorate".science.nasa.gov.Retrieved2020-08-25.
  19. ^Fuls, Carson."Catalina Outer Solar System Survey >> Research – Zooniverse".www.zooniverse.org.Retrieved2020-08-25.
  20. ^"Comb the Edges of the Solar System with the Catalina Outer Solar System Survey | Science Mission Directorate".science.nasa.gov.Archived fromthe originalon 2020-09-29.Retrieved2020-08-25.
  21. ^Fuls, Carson."Catalina Outer Solar System Survey >> FAQ – Zooniverse".www.zooniverse.org.Retrieved2020-08-25.
  22. ^Fuls, Carson."Catalina Outer Solar System Survey >> Results – Zooniverse".www.zooniverse.org.Retrieved2020-08-25.
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