1. Overview of the NEOtech (NEOs@Tech) Follow-Up and Characterization Program
Eileen V. Ryan and William H. Ryan
2.4-meter Telescope
(NM Tech/Magdalena Ridge Observatory)
NEOO Review, January , 2016

2. The MRO 2.4-meter Telescope: Operational Sept 2007
Near-Earth Objects: astrometric follow-up and characterization
DoD mission – SSA: sensor development and surveillance
Support and enhance NM education, research, and outreach
NEOO Review, January , 2016

3. Telescope Specifications
Blind pointing is within 3 to 4 arcseconds
Slewing and tracking rate is 10/sec
Acceleration is 3 degrees per sec2
Settling time is 5 sec after full sky slew
Open loop tracking: at astronomical rates, 0.5 arcsec deviation over 5 minutes (over most gimbal angles)
Ability to point 2 degrees below horizontal, retaining arcsec seeing at low elevations
Can mount multiple instruments simultaneously
Spectrograph
Imager
Limiting Magnitude is V~24.5
Binary asteroid Kalliope/Linus taken with the 2.4m telescope.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

4. Artificial Target Tracking
A single, resolved image (left) of the International Space Station (ISS) taken with the 2.4-meter telescope on December 14, An unresolved image (middle) of spacecraft Stardust-NExT taken in 2009, and a tracked image (left) taken with the 2.4-meter telescope of newly generated space debris: the tool-bag lost by a shuttle astronaut while servicing the ISS on November 19, 2008.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

5. Upper Atmospheric Research: Tracking a NASA Sub-Orbital Rocket
GPS open-loop tracked time sequence covering a 3 second period during launch for a NASA Black Brandt rocket imaged by the MRO 2.4-meter telescope in The sub-orbital rocket was launched at White Sands Missile Range and the second-stage burn is visible in the center of the image sequence. Other artifacts in the images are background stars.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

6. Telescope Real-time Scheduling: Not a Full-time NEO Facility
NEO Work (Follow-up plus an Arecibo Subcontract) ~10 nights per month
20% Air Force; 10% Other
On-call 24/7 for any clear night with flexible and dynamic scheduling
Requests for follow-up coordinated through (CSS, SST, NEOWise, PS-1)
NEOO Review, January , 2016

7. NEOtech Program Goals
In the 8 years that the NEOtech program has been operating, the focus of our approach has been to complement the efforts of discovery surveys through real-time faint object astrometric follow-up and physical characterization of both newly discovered NEO targets-of-opportunity and known NEOs or virtual impactors. This includes the acquisition of time-series photometric data (i.e., lightcurves), and spectrophotometry/spectroscopy. Therefore, for 8 nights per month, we contribute to the dataset that is required to address the following:
1. The need to confirm and catalog the orbits of faint NEOs.
2. The uncertainty in the NEO population size distribution.
3. The unknown material and inferred strengths of NEOs.
Follow-up takes precedence over characterization studies
NEOO Review, January , 2016

8. Program Personnel
Eileen Ryan, Principal Investigator and Director of the Magdalena Ridge Observatory 2.4-meter telescope facility, is responsible for all aspects of the project, including preparation of technical results, interim and final reports. She is involved in the analysis of the results from the project and also participates in the data collection as an observer.
William Ryan, Co-Investigator, is responsible for implementing the characterization observing plan and the astrometric follow up program (and is the primary observer for both), and oversees the operation of the telescope during observing intervals. He is also the author of any required data analysis tools and leads the analysis and interpretation of results to derive rotation rates, albedos, sizes, and shapes.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

9. Astrometric Asteroid and Comet Follow-up
NEOWISE target N008w36 taken on December 19, 2015
Single 240-second exposure of R~24.1 target 2012 XH.
Image of Comet Temple 1 taken 5º above the horizon in morning twilight.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

10. Tracking Fast-Moving Objects
The image is of asteroid 2014 JR24 as it was making a close flyby of the Earth with apparent motion of ~300” per minute w.r.t. sidereal. Exposures were timed to keep the point-spread function (PSF) less than ~2" for the field stars. Note that despite this slight elongation in the field stars, reliable centroids can still be determined for these usually brighter objects allowing for accurate astrometry.
Asteroid 2014 JR24 (0.5 sec exposure V~15.5) taken during closest approach on May 7, 2014.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

11. Rapid Response to Targets-of-Opportunity
Space debris object WT1190F (left) hit the Earth off the coast of Sri Lanka on Nov 13, Peter Jenniskens used the opportunity (with MRO as a collaborator) to perform an impact scenario-drill. MRO contributed astrometry and a lightcurve. NEO 2015 VY105 (right) came within 0.1 Lunar distances of the Earth, and passed within the geosynchronous satellite belt.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

12. Astrometric Benchmarks
On track at Year 1 half-way point for meeting and exceeding astrometric goals
NEOO Review, January , 2016

13. ACTUAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Halfway Mark in Year 1: May – December 2015
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
ACTUAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
1) Astrometric follow-up for 8 nights per month resulting in accurate orbit determinations on at least 50 objects per month, for a total of about 500 objects per year.
1) Astrometric follow-up has been performed for 385 objects at the half-year mark; on-track to exceed the 500 NEO per year goal. Residuals for these measurements are very good, usually less than 0.1 for bright targets, and less than 0.5 for fainter targets.
2) 1-2 lightcurves or spectra per month (10 month period) each year to determine rotation rates and first-order compositions for NEOs.
2) We have characterized 8 NEOs in this partial phase, obtaining 9 lightcurves and 2 asteroid spectra, on-track for our baseline goals.
3) Reduce data for period and composition determinations.
3) Lightcurves for 8 small (<200 meters) NEOs have been reduced for period determinations; first order compositions have been determined for 2 NEOs.
4) Present results at meetings and via published papers.
4) Results have been presented at November 2015 DPS conference, 5 papers have been published or are in press, and 2 papers on asteroid spin rates are in preparation. Further, the follow up work on NEOs has resulted in over 2815 MPECs or IAUCs/CBETs since 2008.
5) Establish nightly communication protocol between the survey telescopes and the MRO telescope for follow up on high priority, newly discovered objects.
5) A blog and/or protocol system was established with the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS), SST, Spacewatch, ARO, and Pan-STARRS to facilitate follow up and to avoid redundancy.
6) Astrometric data will be submitted to the Minor Planet Center (MPC) nightly.
6) Data sharing accomplished; lightcurve data will be posted to the database maintained by Warner et al.; also at:
NEOO Review, January , 2016

14. From Asteroids IV, 2016
NEOO Review, January , 2016

15. Astrometric Accuracy
“Star catalog position and proper motion corrections in asteroid astrometry”, D. Farnocchia, S. R. Chesley, A. B. Chamberlin, D. J. Tholen, Submitted to Icarus.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

16. Follow-up Coordination
Minor Planet Center
NEOCP (prioritize fast moving and/or faint targets)
Blog
JPL SCOUT
Informal/Formal Collaborations (primarily )
Catalina Sky Survey (CSS)
SST
Pan-STARRS
NEOWISE
NEOO Review, January , 2016

17. Observational Timeframes
Timing for asteroid follow-up and physical study is critical: at first discovery objects are in a prime location with respect to visibility (i.e., brightness) from the Earth.
Lightcurve obtained for fast rotator 2015 QK taken the night of discovery. The spin rate=5.1 minutes, V~17.4, H~26.3.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

18. Timeframes: Several Days to Immediate
(Left) The lightcurve for 2015 FP35 (H~24.3) exhibits tumbling behavior with a primary periodicity of ~1 hour. (Right) Lightcurve for asteroid 2015 FM118 (H~28.7) yielding a rotation period of ~ 61 seconds.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

19. Timeframe: 1-2 Days
The lightcurve (left) for 2015 DB (H~27.7) shows a spin rate of ~5.6 minutes. A visible grating-derived spectra obtained on the same night is shown on the right, with SMASS A-type ranges overplotted. The spectra is derived from twenty 60 second exposures summed and calibrated with a solar standard.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

20. Faint Lightcurve: 2015 YJ, V~22-23
The lightcurve for 2015 VJ (H~28.3) shows a spin rate of ~9.2 minutes.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

21. Collaborations with Radar Facilities (subcontract)
(Arecibo, Goldstone, NRAO-VLA)
Lightcurve (left) of NEA 2015 HM10 taken in advance of radar observations to obtain vital planning parameters. The asteroid is spinning with a rate of 22.6 minutes (needed to be a minimum of ~30 minutes). (Right) obtained radar images revealed an elongated object about 80 m across.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

22. Synergies with Adler, IRTF, and DCT
Hammergren and Brucker (Adler Planetarium) acquired a spectrum.
MRO Lightcurve for 2015 WC1
(Tumbling; primary period ~ 11 min)
V. Reddy (IRTF), Thirouin (DCT), and Arecibo Radar
MRO Lightcurve for 2015 TC25
(Spin=2.2 minutes, V~17.7, H~29.5).
NEOO Review, January , 2016

23. Partial Year 1: Characterization
Object
Data
Type
Observing
Dates
(UT)
Diameter
(meters)
Rotation
Period
(hours)
Composition
Notes
2015 HM10
Lightcurve
2015 July 1 85
0.3697
N/A
Radar
2015 QK
2015 Aug 19 21
0.085
2015 TC25
2015 Oct 12 5
WT1190F
2015 Nov 12 1
0.0004
(Birthwistle)
Space Debris
(rapid rotation)
2015 VY105
2015 Nov 15 7
0.038
Close
Pass; 2nd period
Spectra
TBD ‘’
2015 VO142
2015 Nov 21, 22
0.017
2015 Nov 21
2015 WC1
2015 Nov 22 42
0.18
2nd Period
2015 YJ
2015 Dec 19 9
0.153
Faint VI: V~23
NEOO Review, January , 2016

24. Spin Rate Summary
A plot of rotation period vs. absolute magnitude (H) where the red circles are NEAs from (Warner et al. 2015) and the green squares, blue triangles, grey circles are new data acquired via this current work.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

25. Spacecraft Target Characterization
Lightcurve for PHA 1999 RQ36 acquired in September and October, 2011 using the MRO 2.4-meter telescope. The spin period is hours. Approximate visual magnitude for the asteroid at the time the observations were taken was V~21.
Lightcurve for Didymous binary pair acquired in April 2015 using the MRO 2.4-meter telescope. The spin period is 2.26 hours. Visual magnitude for the asteroid at the time the observations were taken was V~21.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

26. Publications Year 1
1) Ryan, W.H, and E.V. Ryan (2016) “Unusual Lightcurves in the Near-Earth Population”, Icarus, in preparation.
2) Ryan, W.H, and E.V. Ryan (2016). “Rotation Rates for Very Small Near-Earth Asteroids”, Icarus, in preparation.
3) Reddy, V., J. Sanchez, A. Thirouin, E. Rivera-Valentin, W. Ryan, S. Tegler, E. V. Ryan, P. Taylor, J. Richardson, N. Moskovitz (2016). “Physical Characterization of ~2-meter Diameter Near-Earth Asteroid 2015 TC25” to be submitted to ApJ.
4) Jedicke, R., M. Granvik, M. Micheli, E. V. Ryan, T. Spahr, and D. K. Yeomans (2015). “Surveys, Astrometric Follow-up & Population Statistics”, In Asteroids IV, Univ. of AZ Press.
5) Hergenrother, C.W., M. Franz, P. Berlind, T. Spahr, W.H. Ryan, L. Johnson, E.V. Ryan (2015). “The Nucleus and Activity of Comet 209P/LINEAR: Parent Comet of the May 24 Camelopardalid Meteor Shower”, to be submitted to Icarus.
6) Rivkin, A.S., P. Pravec, N. Moskovitz, A. Thirouin, D. Ozkiewicz, D. Richardson, D. Polishook, W. H. Ryan, C. A Thomas, P. Scheirich, M. W. Busch, A. F. Cheng, P. Michel and the AIDA Observing Working Group (2016) “The observing working group for the asteroid impact & deflection assessment (AIDA)” LPSC.
7) Moskovitz, N., D. Scheeres, T. Endicott, D. Polishook, R. Binzel, F. DeMeo, W.H. Ryan, E.V. Ryan, et al. (2014). “The Near-Earth Flyby of Asteroid (2012 DA14)”. Submitted to Nature.
8) Over 2815 MPECs or IAUCs/CBETs since 2008.
NEOO Review, January , 2016

27. Future Directions Continued astrometric follow up
• Continued characterization (lightcurves and spectra
• Continued coordination with other NEOO projects
• Meeting presentations and increased publications for dissemination of the results
NEOO Review, January , 2016