astronomy

Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking

Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking rather than just read about it. In short: Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) was a program run by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, surveying the sky for near-Earth objects. NEAT was conducted from December 1995 until April 2007, at GEODSS on Hawaii (Haleakala-NEAT; 566), as well as at Palomar Observatory in California (Palomar-NEAT; 644).

Key takeaways

Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) was a program run by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, surveying the sky for near-Earth objects. NEAT was conducted from December 1995 until April 2007, at GEODSS on Hawaii (Haleakala-NEAT; 566), as well as at Palomar Observatory in California (Palomar-NEAT; 644). With the discovery of more than 40,000 minor planets, NEAT has been one of the most successful programs in this field, comparable to the Catalina Sky Survey, LONEOS and Mount Lemmon Survey. NEAT was the successor to the Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey (PCAS).

History

The original principal investigator was Eleanor F. Helin, with co-investigators Steven H. Pravdo and David L. Rabinowitz. NEAT had a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Air Force to use a GEODSS telescope located on Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii. GEODSS stands for Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance and these wide-field Air Force telescopes were designed to optically observe Earth orbital spacecraft. The NEAT team designed a CCD camera and computer system for the GEODSS telescope. The CCD camera format was 4,096 × 4,096 pixels and the field of view was 1.2° × 1.6°. Beginning in April 2001, the Samuel Oschin telescope (1.2-metre-aperture [3.9 ft] Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory) was also put into service to discover and track near-Earth objects. This telescope was equipped with a camera containing 112 CCDs each 2,400 × 600. This was the telescope that produced the images leading to the discovery of 50000 Quaoar in 2002, and 90377 Sedna in 2003 (published 2004) and the dwarf planet Eris. In addition to discovering thousands of asteroids, NEAT was also credited with the co-discovery (recovery) of periodic comet 54P/de Vico–Swift–NEAT and of the high proper-motion Teegarden's Star. The C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) comet was discovered on August 24, 2001 by NEAT. An asteroid was named in its honour, 64070 NEAT, in early 2005.

Discoveries

1996 PW was discovered on 9 August 1996 by a NEAT automated search camera on Haleakalā, Hawaii. It was the first object that was not an active comet discovered on an orbit typical of a long-period comets. This raised the possibility it was an extinct comet or an unusual asteroid.

See also Minor Planet Center (MPC) Planetary Data System (PDS) Spaceguard List of near-Earth object observation projects

References

External links Near Earth Asteroid Tracking

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking

In research: Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Asteroid surveys, Astronomical discoveries by institution, Astronomical surveys, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking in simple terms?

Why does Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking.