COMETS AND THE NEAR EARTH OBJECT PROGRAM AT HOBBS

OBSERVATORYBY BERT MORITZ

EARLY OBSERVATIONS OF COMETS

COMETS AND SUPERSTITION

COMETS

COMETS FORM

OORT CLOUD

LONG AND SHORT PERIOD

COMET IMPACTS ON JUPITER

EARTH IMPACT

WHY THEY DIED

RAIN OF COMETS EVERY 65 MIL?

COMET IMPACT IN MODERN TIMES

WHY TRACK NEAR EARTH OBJECTS?

Safety of Planet

Future exploitation of resources◦ Mining of asteroids◦ Water from comets for fuel

NASA Sponsored ProgramMinor Planetary CenterHarvard Astrophysical Institute

Funding Recently Increased

Near Earth Asteroids

Perihelion distance is less than 1.3 AU

Near Earth Comets

Perihelion distance is less than 1.3 AU

Period is less than 200 years (short period)

CHANCE OF IMPACT IS VERY SMALL BUT REAL

◦ 784 NEOs over ½ mile wide currently tracked◦ Only one poses risk of impact with 1 out of 2940

chance if hitting Earth in 40 years

◦ CHANCE OF IMPACT BY NEO ½ mile wide or larger: one every 500,000 years 1500 feet wide: one every 100,000 years 150 feet wide: one every 700 years 90 feet wide: one every 140 years

NEO Work At Hobbs Observatory

◦ Comets tracked for five year◦ Measurer is Bob Elliott◦ Observer is Bert Moritz

◦ Observations made with 24” telescope and Apogee U55 camera

◦ Data reduction done in Michigan◦ Results sent to Smithsonian Astrophysical

Institute at Harvard University

473 Remanzacco.  Observers L. Donato, M. Gonano, V. Gonano, E. Guido,   M. Travagini, G. Sostero.  0.45-m f/4.4 Newtonian reflector + CCD.750 Hobbs Observatory, Fall Creek.  Observer N. Moritz.  Measurer R. Elliott.   0.60-m f/5 reflector + CCD.808 El Leoncito.  Observers M. L. Varela M., J. Vicentela.  Measurer   M. L. Varela M.  0.5-m f/7.5 double astrograph + CCD.834 Buenos Aires-AAAA.  Observers R. Mackintosh, M. Konishi, R. Mykytyuk.   Measurer R. Mackintosh.  0.25-m f/6.3 Schmidt-Cassegrain + CCD.900 Moriyama.  Observer Y. Ikari.  0.26-m f/7.0 reflector + CCD.945 Observatorio Monte Deva.  Observer J. R. Vidal.  0.36-m f/4.48   Schmidt-Cassegrain + CCD.

ACTIVE OBSERVATORIES

COD 750OBS N. MoritzMEA R. ElliottTYP CMTACK  Observations from Hobbs Observatory Sent 05 June 2009 EDTTEL 0.60-m f/5 reflector + CCDNET UCAC2   CK06Q010  C2009 06 05.12015 16 20 16.09 +37 24 07.7          16.3 N750   CK06Q010  C2009 06 05.13321 16 20 15.62 +37 24 09.9          16.3 N750   CK06Q010  C2009 06 05.14252 16 20 15.26 +37 24 11.5          16.6 N750   CK06Q010  C2009 06 05.14410 16 20 15.21 +37 24 11.8          15.8 N750

PUBLISHED DATA POINTS FROMMINOR PLANET CENTER

WHAT I DON’T GET TO SEE

FUN THINGS I DO GET TO SEE

THANK YOU!