Catalina Sky Survey

Short description: Project to discover comets, asteroids, and near-Earth objects

Catalina Sky Survey

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Minor planets discovered: 25602[1] see § List of discovered minor planets

Catalina Sky Survey (CSS; obs. codes: 703 and G96) is an astronomical survey to discover comets and asteroids. It is conducted at the Steward Observatory's Catalina Station, located near Tucson, Arizona, in the United States.

CSS focuses on the search for near-Earth objects, in particular on any potentially hazardous asteroid that may pose a threat of impact. Its counterpart in the southern hemisphere was the Siding Spring Survey (SSS), closed in 2013 due to loss of funding. CSS supersedes the photographic Bigelow Sky Survey.

## Contents

* 1 Mission
* 2 Techniques
* 3 Discoveries
* 3.1 Notable discoveries
* 3.2 List of comets discovered
* 3.3 List of discovered minor planets
* 4 CSS/SSS team
* 4.1 SSS
* 5 Educational outreach
* 5.1 Catalina Outer Solar System Survey
* 5.2 The Daily Minor Planet
* 6 See also
* 7 References
* 8 External links

## Mission

Number of NEOs detected by various projects:  LINEAR
NEAT
Spacewatch
LONEOS |  CSS
Pan-STARRS
NEOWISE
All others

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The NEO Observations Program is a result of a United States 1998 congressional directive to NASA to begin a program to identify objects 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) or larger to a confidence level of 90% or better. The Catalina Sky Survey, located at the Mount Lemmon Observatory in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, carries out searches for near-earth objects (NEOs), contributing to the congressionally-mandated goal.

In addition to identifying impact risks, the project also obtains other scientific information, including: improving the known population distribution in the main belt, finding the cometary distribution at larger perihelion distances, determining the distribution of NEOs as a product of collisional history and transport to the inner Solar System, and identifying potential targets for flight projects.

## Techniques

The Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) uses three telescopes, a 1.5-meter (59 in) f/1.6 telescope on the peak of Mount Lemmon (MPC code G96), a 68 cm (27 in) f/1.7 Schmidt telescope near Mount Bigelow (MPC code 703), and a 1-meter (39 in) f/2.6 follow-up telescope also on Mount Lemmon (MPC code I52). The three telescopes are located in the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson, Arizona. The CSS southern hemisphere counterpart, the Siding Spring Survey (SSS), used a 0.5-meter (20 in) f/3 Uppsala Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. The 1.5-meter and 68-cm survey telescopes use identical, thermo-electrically cooled cameras and common software written by the CSS team. The cameras are cooled to approximately −100 °C (−148 °F) so their dark current is about 1 electron per hour. These 10,560×10,560-pixel cameras provide a field of view of 5 square degrees with the 1.5-m telescope and nearly 20 square degrees with the Catalina Schmidt. Nominal exposures are 30 seconds and the 1.5-m can reach objects fainter than 21.5 V in that time.[2] The 1-meter follow-up telescope uses a 2000×2000-pixel CCD detector which provides a field of view of 0.3 square degrees. Starting in 2019, CSS started using the 1.54-meter (61 in) Kuiper telescope situated on Mt. Bigelow for targeted follow-up for 7–12 nights per lunation.

CSS typically operates every clear night with the exception of a few nights centered on the full moon. The southern hemispheres' SSS in Australia ended in 2013 after funding was discontinued.[3]

## Discoveries

In 2005, CSS became the most prolific NEO survey, surpassing Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) in total number of NEOs and potentially hazardous asteroids discovered each year since. As of 2020, the Catalina Sky Survey is responsible for the discovery of 47% of the total known NEO population.[4]

### Notable discoveries

Minor planet | Discovery date | Description

|
|

2006 JY26 | May 6, 2006  | Nearly missed the Moon and the Earth on May 9–10, 2006, and may impact the Earth on May 3, 2073.[5]
2007 WD5 | November 20, 2007  | Nearly missed Mars on January 9, 2008 [6][7]
2008 TC3 | October 6, 2008  | Struck Earth on October 7, 2008 [8]
2012 XE133 | December 12, 2012  | Currently a temporary co-orbital of Venus.[9]
2014 AA | January 1, 2014  | Struck Earth on January 2, 2014.[10][11][12]
2018 LA | June 2, 2018  | Struck Earth on June 2, 2018.[13]
2024 RW1 | September 4, 2024  | Struck Earth on September 4, 2024.[14]

### List of comets discovered

### List of discovered minor planets

For a complete listing of all minor planets discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey, see the index section in list of minor planets.

## CSS/SSS team

The CSS team is headed by D. Carson Fuls of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona.[15]

The full CSS team is:

* D. Carson Fuls (principal investigator)
* Stephen M. Larson
* Alex R. Gibbs
* Albert D. Grauer
* Richard E. Hill (Retired)
* Richard A. Kowalski
* Joshua Hogan
* Hannes Gröller
* Frank Shelly
* Cameron Loewen
* David Rankin
* Gregory J. Leonard
* Rob Seaman
* Vivian Carvajal
* Tracie Beuden
* Jacqueline Fazekas
* Kacper Wierzchos

### SSS

* Robert H. McNaught
* Gordon J. Garradd

## Educational outreach

The CSS has helped with Astronomy Camp by showing campers how they detect NEOs. They even played a role in an astrophotography exercise with the 2006 Adult Astronomy Camp ending up with a picture that was featured on Astronomy Picture of the Day.[16]

### Catalina Outer Solar System Survey

The Zooniverse project Catalina Outer Solar System Survey[17] is a citizen science project and is listed as a NASA citizen science project.[18] In this project, the volunteers search for trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) in pre-processed images of the Catalina Sky Survey. Computers can detect the motion of TNOs, but humans must check whether this motion is real.[19][20] Upon agreement with the volunteers, they will be cited as "measurers" in the submission of the astrometry to the Minor Planet Center.[21] The project already found previously known TNOs, including 47171 Lempo, (445473) 2010 VZ98, and (144897) 2004 UX10.[22]

### The Daily Minor Planet

The Zooniverse project The Daily Minor Planet[23] is a citizen science project that is funded by a grant from NASA.[24] In this project volunteers search for asteroids in images from the Catalina Sky Survey's 1.5-m survey telescope. Computer algorithms detect the motion of asteroids, but volunteers must check whether this motion is of a real object.[25][26] Volunteers can be cited as "measurers" in the submission of the astrometry to the Minor Planet Center.[27] The project has already found several new near earth objects, including 2023 VN3, 2023 TW, 2024 SN3, 2025 HD3, and 2025 KU1.[28]

## See also

* Asteroid Zoo
* Astronomical survey
* Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
* Minor Planet Center (MPC)
* Planetary Data System (PDS)
* Spaceguard
* Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System
* List of near-Earth object observation projects

## References

1. ↑ "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 12 January 2017. http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/MPDiscsNum.html.
2. ↑ "Last night at G96 I have very good conditions, high transparency and sub-arcsecond seeing and for at least one NEO candidate at 21.8 V". http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mpml/message/23792.
3. ↑ Safi, Michael (20 October 2014). "Earth at risk after cuts close comet-spotting program, scientists warn". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/20/funding-cuts-leave-earth-with-blind-spot-for-potentially-catastrophic-comets.
4. ↑ NEO discovery statistics from JPL. Shows the number of asteroids of various types (potentially hazardous, size > 1 km, etc.) that different programs have discovered, by year.
5. ↑ Steve Chesley, Paul Chodas and Don Yeomans (September 15, 2011). "2006 JY26 Earth Impact Risk Summary". NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office. http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/2006jy26.html.
6. ↑ "Catalina Sky Survey Discovers Space Rock That Could Hit Mars". http://uanews.org/node/17415.
7. ↑ Steve Chesley, Paul Chodas and Don Yeomans (January 9, 2008). "2007 WD5 Mars Collision Effectively Ruled Out – Impact Odds now 1 in 10,000". NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office. http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news156.html.
8. ↑ "Asteroid to be harmless fireball over Earth". CNN. October 6, 2008. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/10/06/asteroid.fireball/index.html.
9. ↑ de la Fuente Marcos, Carlos; de la Fuente Marcos, Raúl (June 2013). "Asteroid 2012 XE133, a transient companion to Venus". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 432 (2): 886–893. doi:10.1093/mnras/stt454. Bibcode: 2013MNRAS.432..886D.
10. ↑ "The First Discovered Asteroid of 2014 Collides With The Earth". NASA JPL. April 27, 2014. http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news182a.html.
11. ↑ Farnocchia, Davide; Chesley, Steven R.; Brown, Peter G.; Chodas, Paul W. (August 1, 2016). "The trajectory and atmospheric impact of asteroid 2014 AA". Icarus 274: 327–333. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2016.02.056. Bibcode: 2016Icar..274..327F.
12. ↑ de la Fuente Marcos, C.; de la Fuente Marcos, R.; Mialle, P. (October 13, 2016). "Homing in for New Year: impact parameters and pre-impact orbital evolution of meteoroid 2014 AA". Astrophysics and Space Science 361 (11): 358 (33 pp.). doi:10.1007/s10509-016-2945-3. Bibcode: 2016Ap&SS.361..358D.
13. ↑ "Tiny Asteroid Discovered Saturday Disintegrates Hours Later Over Southern Africa". NASA/JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7148.
14. ↑ Tingley, Brett (September 4, 2024). "Tiny asteroid will hit Earth today, burn up over Philippines. 'Discovered this morning,' ESA says". https://www.space.com/asteroid-earth-impact-september-2024-rw1.
15. ↑ "Catalina Sky Survey – Directory". Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. https://catalina.lpl.arizona.edu/people.
16. ↑ "APOD: 2006 August 31 – Extra Galaxies". http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060831.html.
17. ↑ Fuls, Carson. "Catalina Outer Solar System Survey". https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/fulsdavid/catalina-outer-solar-system-survey.
18. ↑ "Citizen Science | Science Mission Directorate". https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience.
19. ↑ Fuls, Carson. "Catalina Outer Solar System Survey >> Research – Zooniverse". https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/fulsdavid/catalina-outer-solar-system-survey/about/research.
20. ↑ "Comb the Edges of the Solar System with the Catalina Outer Solar System Survey | Science Mission Directorate". https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience/news/catalina-outer-solar-system-survey.
21. ↑ Fuls, Carson. "Catalina Outer Solar System Survey >> FAQ – Zooniverse". https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/fulsdavid/catalina-outer-solar-system-survey/about/faq.
22. ↑ Fuls, Carson. "Catalina Outer Solar System Survey >> Results – Zooniverse". https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/fulsdavid/catalina-outer-solar-system-survey/about/results.
23. ↑ Fuls, Carson. "The Daily Minor Planet". https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/fulsdavid/the-daily-minor-planet.
24. ↑ "Citizen Science | Science Mission Directorate". https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience.
25. ↑ Fuls, Carson. "The Daily Minor Planet >> Research – Zooniverse". https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/fulsdavid/the-daily-minor-planet/about/research.
26. ↑ "Extra! Extra! The Daily Minor Planet Needs Your Help Spotting Asteroids | Science Mission Directorate". https://science.nasa.gov/get-involved/citizen-science/the-daily-minor-planet-needs-your-help-spotting-asteroids/.
27. ↑ Fuls, Carson. "The Daily Minor Planet >> FAQ – Zooniverse". https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/fulsdavid/the-daily-minor-planet/about/faq.
28. ↑ Fuls, Carson. "Catalina Outer Solar System Survey >> Results – Zooniverse". https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/fulsdavid/the-daily-minor-planet/about/results.

## External links

* Catalina Sky Survey Website
* Overview and history

* v
* t
* e

Planetary defense

Main topics|

* Asteroid
* Bolide
* Earth-grazing fireball
* Impact event
* List of meteor air bursts
* Meteor procession
* Meteor shower
* Meteorite
* Meteoroid
* Near-Earth object
* Potentially hazardous object

Defense|

* Asteroid impact avoidance
* Asteroid laser ablation
* Gravity tractor
* Ion-beam shepherd
* Asteroid close approaches
* Earth-crossing minor planets
* Damage scales
* Palermo scale
* Torino scale

Space probes|

* Dawn
* Deep Impact
* AIDA
* Hera
* DART
* Halley Armada
* Hayabusa
* Hayabusa2
* MASCOT
* NEAR Shoemaker
* NEA Scout
* New Horizons
* OSIRIS-REx
* PROCYON
* Rosetta
* Philae
* Stardust

NEO tracking|

* ATLAS
* Catalina Sky Survey
* LINEAR
* LONEOS
* NEAT
* NEOSSat
* NEOCam
* NEODyS
* OGS Telescope
* Orbit@home
* Pan-STARRS
* SCAP
* Sentinel Space Telescope
* Sentry
* Spacewatch
* WISE

Organizations|

* B612 Foundation
* Japan Spaceguard Association
* Meteoritical Society
* NEOShield
* Spaceguard
* The Spaceguard Foundation
* Space Situational Awareness Programme
* Planetary Defense Coordination Office

Potential threats|

* 1950 DA
* 1994 WR12
* 101955 Bennu
* 2002 MN
* (410777) 2009 FD
* 2010 RF12
* 99942 Apophis

Films / video|

* The End of the World (1916)
* When Worlds Collide (1951)
* Gorath (1962)
* The Green Slime (1968)
* The Paradise Syndrome (1968)
* A Fire in the Sky (1978)
* Meteor (1979)
* NOVA: Doomsday Asteroid (1995)
* Asteroid (1997)
* Deep Impact (1998)
* Armageddon (1998)
* Judgment Day (1999)
* Post Impact (2004)
* Deadly Skies (2006)
* Super Comet: After the Impact (2007)
* Impact (2009)
* NOVA: Last Extinction (2009)
* Meteor Storm (2010)
* HORIZON: Asteroids–The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (2010)
* Melancholia (2011)
* NOVA: Meteor Strike (2013)
* NOVA: Asteroid: Doomsday or Payday? (2013)
* Impact Earth (2015)
* Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

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