Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.5907t&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #59.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.594
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We describe an ongoing joint observing program for routine measurement of near-Earth object (NEO) spectra being conducted on behalf of the community by MIT, the University of Hawaii, and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. We utilize SpeX, a low-to-medium resolution near-infrared spectrograph and imager, to obtain 0.8- to 2.5-micron spectra. Under good seeing conditions the limiting magnitude for our program is near V=17.5 magnitudes. Our program goals are to provide an ongoing source of current spectral measurements allowing broad characterization of the near-Earth object population. Particular emphasis is placed on characterizing potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) and enhancing our understanding of asteroid-comet-meteorite interrelationships. NEOs residing in orbits that may be accessible as spacecraft targets are also given priority. All spectroscopic observations obtained in this program are being made publicly available in near-real time via the website: http://smass.mit.edu/ and are also linked through the IRTF website: http://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/ . We have as an operational goal to process and to make available in the public domain the spectral results within a few days of the observations. Spectra for nearly 100 NEOs are presently available. This program has been granted long-term planetary status and utilizes approximately one night per month. This frequent access enables routine characterization of both newly discovered targets of opportunity and previously known near-Earth objects. There is no pre-condition for collaboration for any researcher wishing to use these data. All data obtained and released by this program may be used freely. We welcome broad community participation in target selection, observing, and data utilization. This research supported by NASA Cooperative Agreement NCC5-538.
Binzel Richard P.
Bus Schelte J.
DeMeo Francesca E.
Rivkin Andrew S.
Thomas Cristina A.
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