[meteorite-list] Asteroid Tracker Due For Hawaii (Pan-STARRS)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:54:07 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200701111754.JAA20112_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://starbulletin.com/2007/01/11/news/story10.html

Asteroid tracker due for isles

Hawaii astronomers say Mauna Kea is the preferred site for the new
telescope facility

By Helen Altonn
Star Bulletin (Hawaii)
January 11, 2007

Mauna Kea would be the best place scientifically for a proposed
telescope to track potentially dangerous near-Earth asteroids and
comets, a Hawaii Institute for Astronomy official said.

If Mauna Kea is chosen over Haleakala, Maui, for the Panoramic Survey
Telescope and Rapid Response System, known as Pan-STARRS, it would
replace the University of Hawaii's 88-inch telescope, said Mike Maberry,
IFA assistant director for external relations.

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PUBLIC COMMENT INVITED

Public meetings to obtain comment for a draft environmental impact
statement for the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System,
or Pan-STARRS, will be held Jan. 23-31 on the Big Island, Maui and Oahu.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and meetings will start at 6 p.m. as follows:

BIG ISLAND

o Jan. 23 at Kealakehe Intermediate School Cafeteria

o Jan. 24 at the Waimea Civic Center

o Jan. 25 at Hilo Campus Center

MAUI

o Jan. 30 at Cameron Center

OAHU

o Jan. 31 at the UH-Manoa's Center for Hawaiian Studies, Kamakakuokalani
  Building

After presentations on the proposed telescope, people will be allowed to
ask questions and make comments, which will be documented as part of the
environmental process.

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The 88-inch is "extremely productive, an excellent tool for students and
faculty," Maberry said. But it is more than 35 years old and expensive
to maintain, he said.

Hearings are scheduled for this month on the Big Island, Maui and Oahu
to get public comment for development of a draft environmental impact
statement for Pan-STARRS.

A prototype of the telescope is being developed on Haleakala, where two
sites offer a possible alternative to Mauna Kea for a permanent system.
One is undeveloped, Maberry said. The other was used previously for a
radio telescope but is now a flat area, he said.

Pan-STARRS' purpose is to detect and track asteroids and comets on a
threatening path toward Earth. It will also survey other moving objects
in space.

Funding is provided through an agreement administered by the U.S. Air
Force Research Laboratory. The UH will support maintenance and operation
of Pan-STARRS and be responsible for processing what is expected to be a
deluge of data and images.

The $50 million system will have four telescopes, each with a digital
camera with about 1.4 billion pixels. Working together, they will survey
the visible sky once a week to help NASA reach its goal to categorize
near-Earth objects larger than about 460 feet in diameter.

A digital camera with more than 300 megapixels will be installed on the
PS1 telescope next month, Maberry said. "It will be the largest digital
camera in the world, even though it is only one-quarter of the final
camera."

The prototype is being developed to test the technology for the full
Pan-STARRS system, and it is expected to be fully operational by the end
of this year, Maberry said. IFA astronomer Kenneth Chambers is project
scientist for the PS1 survey.

Maberry, based on Maui, said scientists are waiting for some optical
elements to arrive, the largest astronomical filters ever made and a
secondary mirror.

"We have a primary mirror but not secondary," he said, adding that a
temporary secondary mirror is allowing astronomers to do some important
alignments and tests.

Geological, biological, mechanical and scientific surveys have been done
of the proposed Pan-STARRS sites on Mauna Kea and Haleakala, Maberry
said. And Mauna Kea is considered the prime site for the unique
telescope for several reasons, he said.

"Prevailing tradewinds tend to bring clouds up out of the crater over
the Haleakala Observatory site, so we experience more clear nights on
Mauna Kea and nights where the 'seeing' disturbance is less."

The four largest cameras in the world also will be very sensitive and
susceptible to light pollution, and the Big Island has a lighting
ordinance that controls light pollution, he said.

"Maui, even though we've been trying for six years, doesn't have a good
lighting ordinance, and we do have a lot of light pollution."

Another advantage of Mauna Kea is the distance of the summit from
populated areas, which enhances the site for nighttime astronomy,
Maberry said.

The UH's Mees Solar Observatory was the first on Haleakala, deemed the
best place in the world for solar observations, Maberry said.

Haleakala might rank second to Mauna Kea for the four Pan-STARRS
telescopes, but the 10,023-foot Maui summit is the chosen site for the
$180 million Advanced Technology Solar Telescope.

The ATST is about a year ahead of Pan-STARRS in the development process,
Maberry said. A draft environmental impact statement was published last
fall.
Received on Thu 11 Jan 2007 12:54:07 PM PST