[meteorite-list] UK Astronomers Scan the Skies for Threat From Space

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Oct 14 16:53:26 2004
Message-ID: <200410142053.NAA10072_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
Swindon, U.K.

Contact Details:

Julia Maddock, PPARC Press Office
Tel 01793 442094

Dr. Alan Fitzsimmons, Queens University Belfast
Tel: +44 (0) 2890-973124

Lucie Green, Faulkes Telescope Project
Tel +44 (0)29 20875121

13 October 2004

UK astronomers Scan the Skies for Threat from Space

British astronomers are providing a vital component to the world-wide effort of
identifying and monitoring rogue asteroids and comets. From this month, the UK
Astrometry and Photometry Programme (UKAPP) for Near-Earth Objects, based at
Queens University, Belfast, will track Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) and feed their
crucial information into the international programme of protecting the Earth
from any future impact by a comet or asteroid.

On average 30-40 NEOs are discovered each month -- asteroids and comets that
could one day collide with the Earth. Over 3000 NEOs have now been found, and a
world-wide effort involving professional and amateur astronomers attempts to
keep track of these objects. Now a team of astronomers at Queen's University
Belfast will be tracking these objects each week using large high-performance
telescopes.

UKAPP is using the Faulkes Telescope North, a robotic telescope on the Hawaiian
island of Maui built primarily for educational use by the Faulkes Telescope
Project. At the end of this year they will also start using the twin Faulkes
Telescope South at Siding Spring, Australia. The telescopes' mirror size of 2-m
allows astronomers to see fainter NEOs than most other facilities regularly used
for this task. Test observations took place in September, and the full programme
begins in October. The work is supported by a grant from the British National
Space Centre (BNSC) and the Particle Physics Research Council (PPARC).

Dr. Alan Fitzsimmons, the project leader, said "Previously we used UK-funded
telescopes on La Palma, but for various reasons they could only track a couple
of objects per month on average. The robotic nature of the Faulkes telescopes
means that it is much easier for us to observe numerous NEOs than can be
achieved by using conventional telescopes." Once the images of the NEOs are
taken, Dr Fitzsimmons and his colleagues transfer them to an astronomical
computer network in Northern Ireland via the internet. The positions of the NEOs
are then measured and communicated to the Minor Planer Center in Harvard in
America; the world's clearing house and repository for measurements of NEOs.

Although most of the time will be spent tracking NEOs, some of the time will
also be spent studying their physical make-up. Dr Fitzsimmons said "This is not
only scientifically interesting. If we are going to be hit by one of these
things in the future, we need as much information as possible to allow us to
plan any course of mitigation".

An important aspect is that school classes and science centres around the
country can also do this work. In a separate endeavour from UKAPP, the Faulkes
Telescope Project assists school children to track NEOs using specially designed
educational projects.

Dave Bowdley, Faulkes Telescope Educational Programmes Manager said, "This
project provides a fantastic opportunity for schools to work alongside the
professionals in an exciting area of research."

PPARC

The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) is the UK's
strategic science investment agency. It funds research, education and public
understanding in four broad areas of science -- particle physics, astronomy,
cosmology and space science.

PPARC is government funded and provides research grants and studentships to
scientists in British universities, gives researchers access to world-class
facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the
European Organisation for Nuclear Research, CERN, the European Space Agency and
the European Southern Observatory. It also contributes money for the UK
telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, the UK
Astronomy Technology Centre at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh and the
MERLIN/VLBI National Facility.

IMAGE CAPTIONS:

[Image 1:
http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/agpic.jpg (67KB)]
Dr Fitzsimmons at La Palma.

[Image 2:
http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/alanateso.jpg (93KB)]
Dr Fitzsimmons at the European Southern Observatory.

[Image 3:
http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/FTS2.jpg (155KB)]
The Faulkes North Telescope (centre dome) in Hawaii.

[Image 4:
http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/FtN_enclosure.jpg (300KB)]
The Faulkes North Telescope enclosure.
Received on Thu 14 Oct 2004 04:53:23 PM PDT