Squirrel Valley Observatory, a privately owned observatory in Polk County, was recently granted an observatory code, W34, for the detection, observation and tracking of minor planetary bodies, e.g., asteroids, near earth objects (NEO), hazardous objects and comets.

Of particular interest are NEO objects that are classified as hazardous, posing a potential threat for earth impact. In order for an official code to beconferred to an observatory, it must be able to produce and submit properly formatted, consistently “clean” astrometry data with less than one arc second of error. Squirrel Valley Observatory’s W34 designation and continuing contribution of data will be published in the Minor Planet Circulars each month.

Asteroid astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of asteroids, comets and near earth objects. This is accomplished by imaging the target, comparing the data to known data from the MPC, and then submitting the measurements, which can then be used to refine orbit predictions, or in some cases lead to the discovery of new minor planets.

The Minor Planet Center, or MPC, is the single worldwide location for receipt and distribution of positional measurements of minor planets, comets and outer irregular natural satellites of the major planets. The MPC is responsible for the identification, designation and orbit computation for all of these objects. This involves maintaining the master files of observations and orbits, keeping track of the discoverer of each object, and announcing discoveries to the rest of the world via electronic circulars and an extensive website.

The MPC (minorplanetcenter.net) operates at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, under the auspices of Division F of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

The progress of Squirrel Valley Observatory may be followed at svo.space.

– article submitted by Randy Flynn