NEO Asteroid 2009_VZ from Mt.Parnon

Hi all,

Last weekend, on 13/14 Nov. during the scheduled observing session at Mt.Parnon, I was able (and lucky) to image Asteroid 2009_VZ. This is a newly discovered Apollo (NEO, PHA), which I found in the "Priority List" spaceguard.iasf-roma.inaf.it/servlet/PriorityListServlet with the indication "Necessary". Now it has been moved to "Useful". It was a real challenge to chart and locate this oblect, since I have little experience, and a great joy of course! This thing is only a 150 or 350 METERS small rock! And it is moving really fast...
The next morning I did some astrometry calculations with AIP4WIN (mayby I can try Astrometrica, too). Here is a pic:

the results:
www.spartastronomy.gr/astroteams/asteroeideis/2009_vz_report

and a video from 24 fit files with MaximDL:


Two sets of observations were made during 1 night (13th/14th) with 1hr 10min difference.
Unfortunately the next night I was not able to observe since I caught a cold.

Question:
Should I send these data (from 1 night only) anywhere? Are they of any use?

Thanx in advance,
Vagelis

Vagelis - surew, those results are of use. Data is data!

I'm not familiar with AIP4WIN and the way it constructs reports. However, the MPC (Minor Planet Center) have a strict format for observation submissions. Take a look here:

www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/info/TechInfo.html

Alternatively, download Astrometrica (which I know generates MPC compatible reports) and process your images with it.

www.astrometrica.at/download.html

Thougn it seems the site is down at the moment.

Hope that helps.

Well caught Vagelis and I like the mpeg. As Dave says all data is good. You need the long/lat and altitude of your observing position since parallax becomes a big issue when measuring NEO's. There is less than 150 miles between me and DaveG and the parallax makes a huge difference between are observed positions for NEO's.

The time of the images is also crucial for NEO's so you need to have your computer clock updated every few seconds via software & internet.

Nice to see some asteroid images again since all I can do here is curse cloud and gale force winds.

Thank you for your advise!
Dave, I do have Astrometrica installed, I only need time to play with it. It was a busy weekend. I will finally (and hopefully) use the same fits sets to compare AIP and Astrometrica MPC reports (AIP can do that, too).
Phoenix, valuable info! What I 've been doing up to now is synchronize the laptop clock in-situ with a radio clock, but only once, and at the beginning of the obervation. Could you recomend a couple of internet clock programs? I guess there are dozens of them. Which one should I choose?

Vagelis

As advised by others I use Dimension 4 www.thinkman.com/dimension4/ and set the update for every second.

Hi again,
I am thankful for your help!

I submited THIS obs. report (made with Astrometrica):
COD XXX
COM Long. 22 34 59.9 E, Lat. 37 16 00.1 N, Alt. 1420m
CON Mr Vagelis Tsamis, Sparta Astronomical Society [vtsamis@aegean.gr]
OBS Vagelis Tsamis
MEA Vagelis Tsamis
TEL 25 cm SCT f/5.6 + CCD
ACK MPCReport file updated 2009.12.01 00:11:40
AC2 vtsamis@aegean.gr
NET USNO-B1.0
K09V00Z C2009 11 14.11961 06 47 26.15 +24 48 48.7 16.1 C XXX
K09V00Z C2009 11 14.12166 06 47 28.38 +24 48 03.9 16.7 C XXX
K09V00Z C2009 11 14.16111 06 48 11.91 +24 33 29.6 15.1 C XXX
K09V00Z C2009 11 14.16270 06 48 13.63 +24 32 53.8 15.3 C XXX
K09V00Z C2009 11 14.16728 06 48 18.73 +24 31 12.2 15.2 C XXX

---

end

---

And I got THIS answer:

"Your initial observations show residuals of about 5" in R.A. and 7" in Decl.
We do not recommend observing NEOs in your initial batches, as it can
be difficult to determine whether bad residuals are due to problems with
timing/measuring by the observer or due to uncertainties in the orbit of
the object. Please observe some numbered main-belt asteroids and resubmit
your observatory code request.

---

Gareth V. Williams, MS 18, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Associate Director, Minor Planet Center gwilliams@cfa.harvard.edu
www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/mpc.html
OpenVMS and RISC OS: Refined Choices in Operating Systems"

Knowing that this was a no-chance 1-nighter, I was surprised to even get a reply!
Anyway, I think getting a code is not impossible if you have really dark skies!

My QUESTIONs are:
Which were your first asteroids that you submited?
And which were the specific asteroids that "won" the obs. code?

Greetings,
Vagelis.