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| Abstract |
| Linking and Identifying Hitherto Unidentified Asteroid Observations | Mikael Granvik
Jenni Virtanen
Karri Muinonen
Timothy Spahr
Edward Bowell
| Observatory, University of Helsinki
Observatory, University of Helsinki
Observatory, University of Helsinki
Minor Planet Center
Lowell Observatory
| | As of 7 April 2005, some 10% of the roughly 30,000,000 asteroid
observations stored at the Minor Planet Center (MPC) belong to
unlinked single-night sets (SNSs), which have not been associated with
any known asteroids or comets. Up to 20% of the SNSs are estimated to
be bad measurements of known objects, are spurious, or contain gross
time/position errors. However, some of the SNSs may actually belong to
single objects. When a linkage (that is, an orbit tying different sets
of observations together for given observational errors) between two
SNSs is found, the increasing observational arc allows a better
constrained orbit to be computed, which in turn may reveal additional
linkages. When the data of several SNSs are combined, the orbit
generally becomes well constrained, effectively constituting the
discovery of a new asteroid. So far, the lack of a suitable tool to
search for undiscovered linkages has been the main obstacle. We have
recently developed a new method to search for linkages between SNSs
(Granvik and Muinonen, 2005, Icarus, in press), which is based on a
statistical orbital-element inversion method (Virtanen, Muinonen, and
Bowell, 2001, Icarus 154, 412-431). Preliminary studies have shown
that application of the new method leads to numerous two-night
linkages between archived SNSs, and a number of reasonable three-night
linkages. We will present results of this ongoing project, as well as
estimate the number of objects, particularly NEOs, hidden in the SNS
archives. | | Presenting author: | Mikael Granvik |
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