Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jun 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996dps....28.0701g&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #28, #07.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 28, p.1081
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
2
Scientific paper
Spacewatch scans the sky for near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) with a CCD on a 0.9-m telescope. The observing strategy has been recently reorganized to detect slower moving objects between 20 and 100 AU from the sun (trans-Neptunian objects; TNOs). The goal is to constrain the bright end of the TNO magnitude distribution, as an indication of the initial TNO population. In the basic Spacewatch observation, three scans over 0.5deg x 7deg near opposition are made at half hour intervals. These are compared to find NEAs. The three scans are also co-added, taking into account the expected motion of TNOs. The magnitude limit of the co-added image at 4sigma is V=22.3, improved by the recent addition of a coma corrector on the telescope. Three scan triplets made at 5-7 day intervals are registered and divided. Stars and galaxies are divided out while the moving objects remain. Even objects that move over a star or galaxy can be found in the divided image. The effectiveness of image division was demonstrated by Spacewatch's recovery of Clementine 2 target 1987 OA in a dense Milky Way region. The rate of solid angle coverage of scans for NEAs is 2000 deg(2) yr(-1) and for TNO scan combinations 160 deg(2) yr(-1) . Based on the steep slope of the bright end of the TNO magnitude-frequency relation estimated by Irwin et al. (1995 AJ 110, 3082), 5 TNOs yr(-1) are expected to be found at the 0.9-m, and 30 yr(-1) at the 1.8-m Spacewatch Telescope that is under construction. Even more TNOs are implied by the population estimates of Jewitt and Luu (1995 AJ 109, 1867). Spacewatch is funded by grants from AFOSR, NASA, and private donations.
Gehrels Tom
Herron J. D.
Jedicke Robert
McMillan Robert S.
Metcalfe Travis
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