[meteorite-list] 2005 Gene Shoemaker NEO Grant Recipients

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Aug 18 11:36:12 2005
Message-ID: <200508181520.j7IFKgM04027_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://planetary.org/html/neo/SocietyProjects/ShoemakerGrant/2005ShoeGrants.html

2005 Gene Shoemaker NEO Grant Recipients
The Planetary Society
August 17, 2005

The 2005 Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object (NEO) Grants,
totaling $32,500 (US), were awarded to an international collection of
amateur astronomers and researchers:

    James W. Ashley, Minor Planet Research, Inc., Fountain Hill,
    Arizona, USA;

    Peter Birtwhistle, Great Shefford Observatory,
    Berkshire, England;

    David J. Higgins, Hunters Hill Observatory, Ngunnawal,
    Canberra, Australia;

    Gianluca Masi, Campo Catino, Italy;

    Erich Meyer, Davidschalg, Austria.

The observers and their projects were selected from a group of 24
proposals that The Planetary Society received from 12 different countries.

James W. Ashley of the Minor Planet Research, Inc.
(MPR) will receive funding for data storage equipment and an Internet
server to be used as a integral part of MPR's Asteroid Discovery Station
(ADS) education project. The ADS system uses both un-reviewed and
archival images from the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Object Search
program (LONEOS) to provide students with the unique opportunity to
discover both main-belt and near-Earth asteroids.

Peter Birtwhistle will receive funding to
enhance the ongoing NEO astrometric follow-up program at the Great
Shefford Observatory by upgrading an existing CCD camera. The upgrade
will enable images from the camera to be transferred to its controlling
PC at a rate about 20 times faster than currently possible. As a result,
longer exposures will be possible in a given elapsed time, permitting
the detection of fainter NEOs.

David Higgins will receive funding to purchase an
SBIG CCD camera and filter wheel, allowing him to utilize the full
automation tools already emplaced at his observatory and thus increasing
the number of effectively utilized observing hours by a factor of 2.
Higgins is a talented amateur observer with a good observing site north
of Canberra where he will concentrate on astrometric follow-up and
lightcurve studies of NEOs.

Gianluca Masi will receive funding to repair and
upgrade a 0.8-meter telescope that he uses for photometric observations
of NEOs. Masi is a graduate student at the University of Rome, working
full time on NEO observations.

Erich Meyer will receive funding to purchase a new
Santa Barbara Instruments Group (SBIG) CCD camera with a large pixel
array and extremely short readout time. Meyer is a very experienced and
productive NEO observer, who routinely works with his 0.6-meter
telescope at very faint visual magnitudes comparable to professional
surveys. The primary thrust of Meyer's observing program is to extend
the observed orbital arcs of very faint newly-discovered NEOs. The
purchase of a new, modern CCD camera will enable him to make even
greater contributions.

The Planetary Society thanks all the Shoemaker NEO Grant applicants.
Received on Thu 18 Aug 2005 11:20:41 AM PDT