1. The Catalina Sky Survey: NEO Follow-up Eric J. Christensen + CSS Team LSST All Hands Meeting : 14 August 2012

2. CSS Overview Funded by NASA’s NEOO program 100% dedicated to NEO survey + follow-up Assets: 3 survey telescopes + 1 follow up telescope Cadence: 4 x 30 s images, deltaT ~10 min. Filters: none NEO candidates are pipeline-generated, human- validated in near-real time

3. IAU Minor Planet Center Accepts and publishes astrometry of minor planets (“broker”, “subscriber” + “publisher”) Calculates and publishes orbits of minor planets and comets Provides tools and services for observers (NEOCP + Blog, MPCES, MPChecker)

4. Lifecycle of a NEO discovery Initial detection of NEO candidate Astrometry reported to Minor Planet Center TP49ECD C2012 08 07.69817 23 41 59.33 -32 55 39.4 18.4 V E12 TP49ECD C2012 08 07.70977 23 41 51.87 -32 55 28.4 18.2 V E12 TP49ECD C2012 08 07.72124 23 41 44.46 -32 55 17.4 18.1 V E12 TP49ECD C2012 08 07.73264 23 41 37.17 -32 55 06.1 18.1 V E12 Public posting on NEO Confirmation Page Follow-up: confirmation and orbit refinement Designation + publication (MPECs) Additional follow-up for orbit refinement

5. Stages of Follow-up Astrometric follow-up is useful at different times Same-night: reality check + orbit refinement Subsequent night(s): leading to “discovery” Post-discovery: – Same + subsequent apparitions (recovery) – Refines orbit, prevents NEOs from becoming lost

6. CSS Follow-up : now Same-night follow-up often conducted on survey telescope(s) NEO candidates posted <15 min after reporting Bright objects (< V~20) usually followed by other observing stations, often amateurs Faint object follow-up conducted on our 1.5-m, or by others on 1 - 2-m class telescopes

7. CSS Follow-up : soon 1-m telescope under commissioning 30 arcmin circular FOV, BVRI filters Robotically operated, queue scheduled – programmed during day by human Will accept, prioritize, and execute requests, return data to requestor

8. CSS Follow-up : soon Initial stages of collaboration with Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network Geographic distribution of LCOGT is ideal for on- call NEO follow-up – Access to near-Sun regions 3-4x per day – 24-hour monitoring of incoming impactors

9. We are investing in follow-up infrastructure in anticipation of increased discovery rate Larger cameras for survey telescopes: 1 funded, 1 proposed

10. We are investing in follow-up infrastructure in anticipation of increased discovery rate Larger cameras for survey telescopes: 1 funded, 1 proposed 1.5-m FOV: 5.0 sq. deg. 0.77” pixels * Funded * 1.5-m FOV 1.2 deg 1.0” pixels Current 0.7-m Schmidt FOV: 19.4 sq. deg. 1.5” pixels * Proposed * 0.7-m Schmidt FOV: 8.1 sq. deg. 2.5” pixels Current

11. Questions?