International Asteroid Search Campaign: Internet-Based Asteroid Search Program for High Schools & Colleges
J. Patrick Miller
Department of Mathematics
Hardin-Simmons University
Abilene , Texas
Jeffrey W. Davis
Honors Program
Hardin-Simmons University
Abilene , Texas
Dr. Carlton R. Pennypacker
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
University of California , Berkeley
Berkeley , California
Dr. Greame L. White
Centre for Astronomy
James Cook University
Townsville , Australia
Introduction
Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter at a distance of 300-600 million kilometers (km) from the Sun is a debris field of irregularly-shaped boulders of rock. The field is called the Main Belt and is distributed within a few degrees of the ecliptic plane (i.e., the plane extending from the Sun's equator). There are millions upon millions of these boulders, typically 10-25 km in diameter, that astronomers call asteroids.
Figure 1. This image of the 16-km wide asteroid Ida and its orbiting companion Dactyl was captured during a Galileo spacecraft fly-by. Courtesy of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL NASA).
On occasion, asteroids are redirected out of the Main Belt towards Earth, which is located closer to the Sun at a distance of 150 million km. This redirection can happen as a result of collisions with other asteroids, gravitational perturbations from planets, or even thermal effects from the Sun. These redirected asteroids are known as near-Earth objects (NEO), and some have the potential of being an impact hazard.
Other asteroids are found outside the Main Belt. Two large collections are moving along Jupiter's orbit, 60o ahead and 60o behind the planet. These are referred to as the Trojans. Another collection, the Hildas, is 500-600 million km from the Sun, again as a result of gravitational interactions with Jupiter.
Figure 2. The distribution of asteroids as of August 2006. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
The official repository of information about the asteroids is located at the Minor Planet Center (MPC) of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory operating under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). All discoveries are recognized and cataloged by the MPC, which maintains a continuously updated database of all known asteroids.
Technological advances in affordable, computer-based control of telescopes and CCD (charge-coupled device) digital-imaging technology have made it possible for amateur astronomers to make original discoveries of Main Belt asteroids and other astronomical phenomena, including comets, supernovae and active galactic nuclei. Ongoing programs are being developed in which amateurs actively seek and make these kinds of discoveries.
International Asteroid Search Campaign
The International Asteroid Search Campaign (IASC) was organized in September 2006 at the Holland School of Science & Mathematics at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. An educational outreach program provided at no cost to the participating high schools and colleges, the IASC is a collaboration with Hands-On Universe (HOU) of the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley, the Astronomical Research Institute (ARI) of Charleston, Illinois, and Astrometrica in Austria.
During the 30 days between full moons, the ARI uses its 32-inch prime focus telescope and CCD imager (Fig. 3) to take three images of a specific area of the sky along the ecliptic. The three images are taken at different times during a one-hour period.
Figure 3. The 32-inch prime focus telescope at the Astronomical Research Institute that provides real-time images to the schools participating in the IASC. Courtesy of and copyright by ARI 2007.
The Internet educational delivery platform Blackboard is used to upload the images and make them available to participating schools. Within two days, students download the images and use the software package Astrometrica to search for moving objects. The three images of a particular area of the sky along the ecliptic are aligned and then blinked. The blinking process rapidly switches the images back and forth from one image to next and easily reveals any moving object. A moving object shifts to and fro while the various background stars remained fixed in position. Any moving objects are compared with the MPC asteroid database. Should a moving object be unknown to the database, it is identified as a candidate for a potential new asteroid discovery.
Astrometrica lays down an accurate coordinate grid (right ascension and declination), aligns the images, and automatically detects moving objects. A deeper search or a careful review of the questionable candidates can also be done manually.
Astrometrica produces a report that accurately records the positions of the asteroid candidates. The report is validated and the positions are used to predict where the asteroid will be in the next seven days. This allows the ARI to acquire a follow-up image of the candidate to include in a final report to the Minor Planet Center to assure that a reliable orbit can be calculated. The ARI then sends the follow up image and report to the MPC. The candidate is then certified, and the students are officially recognized as the discoverers.
Asteroid Discoveries
Since September 2006, three 30-day campaigns have been conducted or scheduled. The first was October-November 2006 with 5 participating high schools and colleges. The second was February-March 2007 and has just been completed with 15 participating schools. The third is underway during April-May 2007 with 14 schools.
The participating schools are from across the United States . To date there have been schools from 11 states and one from Poland. In the February-March 2007 campaign, students from these schools made a total of 23 original discoveries of Main Belt asteroids.
Figure 4. Discovery of the asteroid KO7C54V by two students at the Center for Theoretical Physics (Poland) during the February-March 2007 IASC. Courtesy of and copyright by ARI 2007.
Figure 5. Discovery of the asteroids K07B50G and K07B72X by teachers at Ranger High School (Texas) and Loraine High School (Texas) during the February-March 2007 IASC. Courtesy of and copyright by ARI 2007.
Figure 6. Discovery of the asteroid K07C51J by three students at Meredith College (Raleigh, North Carolina). Also shown are two other asteroids in the same image. Courtesy of and copyright by ARI 2007.
Conclusion
The International Asteroid Search Campaign will continue as an Internet-based outreach program provided as an education service at no cost to high schools and colleges. To supplement the searches for asteroids, campaigns are under development that will include searches for other types of astronomical objects, including Kuiper Belt objects (KBO), supernovae (SNe), and active galactic nuclei (AGN.
● KBOs are boulders of ice and rock found farther out in the Solar System than the Main Belt asteroids. Found within several degrees of the ecliptic plane, KBOs are located beyond Neptune at a distance of 5-8 billion km from the Sun. Most of these objects are =100 km in size, but some are on the order of 1,000 to 2,000 km in diameter.
● SNe are exploding stars. One type of supernova is caused by a star with a mass more than eight to ten times that of the Sun. It dies a fiery death in an incredible thermonuclear explosion, ripping it to shreds and leaving behind a compact 20-km wide ball of neutrons known as a neutron star or an even more compact mass called a black hole. For weeks, the light from this explosion can exceed the total combined light from the billions of stars that make up its host galaxy. As a result, SNe can be seen millions, if not billions, of light years across the universe.
● AGN are high energy events that occur at the core of galaxies. Many cores are known to contain massive black holes. For example, at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy is believed to be a black hole with a mass of three million times that of Sun compressed into a ball perhaps less than a few tens of kilometers in diameter. Some galaxies are believed to have black holes that have billions of times the mass of the Sun.
As stars approach a massive black hole, they speed up to near the speed of light and are shredded by the intense tidal forces. This process heats the shredded material to temperatures of millions of degrees. Under these severe conditions this material emits tremendous amounts of light, causing the core of the galaxy to intensely brighten. As with the case of a SNe, this intense light can be seen billions of light years across the universe.
Figure 7. The supernova SN 2006AL discovered by Robert Holmes and Harlan Devore in an anonymous galaxy found in the Abell 1066 cluster of galaxies. Courtesy of and copyright by ARI 2007.
In time, the IASC will become the International Astronomical Search Campaign. Students from high schools and colleges will make original discoveries of these astronomical objects just as they are doing now with Main Belt asteroids.
If your school or group is interested in participating in a future IASC 30-day search campaign, contact J. Patrick Miller at pmiller@hsutx.edu . Each campaign can accommodate a maximum of 10 to 15 schools.
Acknowledgements
We thank Robert Holmes, Astronomical Research Institute, for his night-after-night efforts to provide real-time images using the 3-inch prime focus telescope. It would not have been possible to have the IASC without his endless dedication to the schools.
Harlan Devore and his students at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, provide back-up image analyses. Harlan provides invaluable assistance and counsel in the design of the IASC and the continued development of its service programs for schools.
The Aladin Sky Atlas was used to create many of the images in this article. For additional information see 2000A&AS..143...33B .
The Astronomical Research Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation performing research in astronomy and public outreach programs for student research. For additional information see http://www.astro-research.org .
For additional information on the shareware Astrometrica written by Herbert Raab see http://www.astrometrica.at .
Hands-On Universe (HOU) is an educational program that enables students to investigate the universe while applying tools and concepts from science, math, and technology. For additional information see http://www.handsonuniverse.org
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