Project Description:
UKAPP is a programme to provide essential follow-up
measurements of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) discovered by other facilities.
Roughly 75% of the time spent observing will be allocated to astrometric
observations of NEOs, to improve the accuracy with which we know their
orbits. The rest will be spent measuring the physical properties
of NEOs.
UKAPP is run from the
Astrophysics Research Centre at
Queen's University Belfast.
People involved:
Prof. Alan Fitzsimmons,
Dr. Stephen Lowry,
Mr. Colin Snodgrass,
Mr. Liam O'Donnell and Mr. Jonathan McAadams.
History:
UKAPP has grown from a 2.5 year programme
of observation funded by PPARC that used the 1-m Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope and
2.5-m Isaac Newton
Telescope operated by the
Isaac Newton Group on La Palma.
During 2002-2004 we successfully obtained
astrometry of 58 NEOs
that (at that
time) had a small but measurable impact risk with the Earth. In
2004 we received funding from
BNSC and
PPARC to enlarge our programme of tracking NEOs.
Facilities:
For UKAPP we currently use the
Faulkes Telescope North, a 2-m robotic telescope
based at Haleakela (Hawaii). Once the duplicate Faulkes Telescope South
at Siding Spring (Australia) becomes available, we will have a dual-hemisphere
capability so that we can effectively cover the whole of the
observable sky, while the robotic nature means that we can efficiently
observe NEOs
without having to travel around the world. It also means that we need
very little time on sky, and can avoid any significant impact on the
primary use of the telescopes by schools and education centres.
Could I do this?
Quite possibly! Hundreds NEOs are successfully tracked
each year by astronomers
such as Peter Birtwhistle
using their own observatories. However this requires
equipment costing thousands of pounds and a lot of experience. If you are at school, then
it is possible to use the Faulkes Telescopes yourself to do this
with projects assisted by the
Spaceguard UK organisation. If you
are interested in performing such projects, go to the
Faulkes Telescope Project
website to find out more (and show your teacher).
Information on Near-Earth Objects:
The Near-Earth Object Information Centre
The NASA NEO Program
The Asteroid/Comet Connection
Spaceguard UK
Last changed 13th-October-2004