Faulkes Telescope Observations
Asteroids and Comets
The Virtual Impactor 2011 BA12 on 2011 February 8th. Images obtained using
the Faulkes Telescope North, operated by Las Cumbres Observatory.
We were able to observe near earth objects (NEOs) such as asteroids and
comets by controlling the Faulkes telescopes in Australia and Hawaii over the
internet using the
Faulkes
Telescope Project website. To locate the area of the sky that the object
occupied at the time of observation we researched the designations of the
object using the
Minor Planet Center website. Before we used one of the telescopes we had
to ensure that the object was observable.
For an object to be observable it must be at least 30 degrees away from the
moon and over 30 degress above the horizon. Also to be considered was the
time interval for each exposure of the object, which depends on the
brightness of the object and how fast it is moving in arcseconds per minute
across the sky. Darker and slower objects needed a longer time interval than
brighter and faster ones. We had to take at least two exposures of each
object being observed so the displacement of the moving object could be
measured using
Astrometrica
software.
Astrometrica uses a catalogue of known stars and NEOs to recognise the
surroundings of the moving object in the sky to generate a list of possible
identities for the unknown object. A report of our measurements for
different objects was then sent to the
Minor Planet
Center where the information was added to their database conatining
information about the orbits of moving objects, and the database was
therefore made more accurate. Some of the objects we observed included
asteroids,
comets, a
virtual impactor
and an object
2011 CH33 from the Minor Planet Center's
confirmation page.
We would like to say a big thank you to David Asher and the rest of the
Observatory Staff for providing us with such an enjoyable work experience
placement, and to
Las Cumbres Observatory Global
Telescope Network and the Faulkes Telescope Project for the opportunity
to use the telescopes.
By Hannah McInteggart, Caoimhe McCusker and Jordan Adams
2011 February 11th
More astronomical projects with the Faulkes Telescopes
Last Revised: 2011 February 14th
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