it looks like linear will have some serious competition.

ladies and gents,
it looks like the linear asteriod search will have some serious competition.
stephen.

www.space.com/businesstechnology/051221_pan-starrs.html

I have been dreading this survey programme for a long time.

Why would you be dreading this? I understand this will significantly reduce the number of amateur discoveries, but surely anything that increases our knowledge can only be a good thing. Also we need to know if one of these things is coming our way, IMO its far more important that these things ARE discovered rather than HOW they are discovered?

I have been dreading this survey programme for a long time.

I can see how some amateurs may feel sad that they will not be able to contribute as much in the future to proffesioanl astronomy but soncidering the goal of this project is to try save us all from death by Asteroid impact I can't possibly see it as a bad thing.

Like all progress it has a slight bitter twinge but in this case it is definitely good progress rather than progress for progress' sake or a step in the wrong direction.

Bart.

I think the project is great for the very reason you guys said and im very supportive and interested in the impact threat which i believe is much greater than the general public believe.

However from the view point of an amateur astronomer i cant help but feel frustrated by the fact that the days of visual comet discovery will be drawing to a close some day in the future. You cannot deny that future great comets by the name of LINEAR, NEAT, PANSTARRS etc will have lost there romance when for so long this has been the domain of amateurs discovering magnificant comets with small telescopes..it makes me sad. This is what i mean.

I have been in contact with the guys running this survey and they told me that it will be looking closer to the sun than any of the current projects however they did say that there will be room for more amateur discoveries as long as they scan very close to the sun. Its not over yet by a long shot but the discoveries will be few and far between. As a person who has been trying for so long in this field i fear that my dream may never come true....however i will not be stopping my own search until i get 100% proof in the future that discovery will be out of the question. I know through correspondance with the likes of David Levy, Don Machholz, Bill Bradfield and the Japanese hunters that these guys are not stopping there own searches in anyway whatsoever despite the threat and will continue to do so for the foreseable future. At least when the next bright amateur comet discovery takes place it will be all the more sweeter to observe!

My two cents

Cheer up Martin, it just means more mornings where you can lie in a bit more!