"The largest digital camera ever built," the Pan-STARRS gigapixel camera focal plane is seen at right, nearly complete in June. There are 60 Orthogonal Transfer CCDs, each of which (left) is comprised of an 8x8 array of 600x600-pixel CCDs. A 56-cm. window with a corrector lens will be assembled over the focal plane. See news below. Images courtesy of Pan-STARRS.
Contents on 21 July '07
- Minor-Object News -- four items
- Minor-Object Science -- none yet today
- IAU Minor Planet Center
- NEOCP Activity -- seven listings: 1 new, 6 updated
- New MPECs -- two MPECs
- Observers -- eight observing facilities
- Impact Risk Monitoring -- nothing to report
- Chronology
Resources:
- Consolidated Risk Tables - CRT page
- Ephemerides for risk-rated objects
- Ephemerides for small asteroids
The latest news: framed access (best), RSS news feed (flags updates), or redirection - Note: A/CC has a main Web site and a backup site.
Navigation tips: Use the << and >> arrows on the menus for each regular section (Observers, Risks, etc.) to move to the previous and next day's news for that section. Use the Index menu item to access specific days this year through a calendar interface. And use the all-up news archive to access news from any time since A/CC began in early 2002. To keep track of what's new each day, watch the Chronology section.
Minor-Object News on 21 July '07
- "CBC site for gathering of celestial observers," Tri-City Herald 21 July - Quote: "Columbia Basin College in Pasco ... is the setting for the annual meeting of the International Occultation Timing Association, or IOTA, a group that observes events similar to an eclipse to gather information about the size and shape of celestial objects... [They also] came to observe asteroid 153 Hilda [which they] learned early Friday morning ... is about 176 kilometers across horizontally and measures about 149 kilometers vertically." - Note: See David Dunham's page about the 20-21 July meeting.
- "Gigapixel camera nearly complete," Pan-STARRS 21 July - Quote: "The overall length of the camera is about 1.5 meters." - Note: See pictures above and read and see more on the Pan-STARRS Camera Design page. The standalone PS-1 prototype telescope is preparing to receive this camera next month, and three more are to be built for the full Pan-STARRS project, which will have four telescopes.
- "Dawn ELV status report," NASA KSC 20 July - Quote: "Dawn remains atop the Delta II launch vehicle at Pad 17-B. The spacecraft will be removed from the launch vehicle on Saturday, July 21, and returned to the Astrotech payload processing facility near NASA's Kennedy Space Center."
- "Spitzer Searches for the Origins of Life," NASA JPL 13 June - Quote: "Achim Tappe ... used Spitzer's infrared spectrograph instrument to detect abundant amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons along the ridge of supernova remnant N132D [in] the Large Magellanic Cloud... These intriguing molecules are comprised of carbon and hydrogen atoms, and have been spotted inside comets, around star-forming regions and planet-forming disks... [Astronomers] suspect that some of Earth's original carbon might have come from these molecules -- possibly from comets that smacked into the young planet. Astronomers say there is some evidence that a massive star exploded near our solar system as it was just beginning to form almost 5 billion years ago. If so, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that survived that blast might have helped seed life on our planet."
NEOCP Activity on 21 July '07
The MPC's NEO Confirmation Page has 7 listings: 1 new, 6 updated
When last checked at 2357 UTC today, the Minor Planet Center's NEO discovery Confirmation Page (NEOCP) had one new and six updated listings. Of these, two were "one nighters." So far Major News has counted a total of eight objects listed on the NEOCP at some point today.
To learn how observers use the NEOCP, see Suno Observatory's Practical guide on how to observe NEOCP object.
New MPECs on 21 July '07
Minor Planet Electronic Circulars
As of last check at 2357 UTC, there have been two MPECs issued today from the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- MPEC 2007-O34 time-stamped "06:08 UT" - Daily Orbit Update - see below
- MPEC 2007-O35 time-stamped "23:36 UT" - 2007 GD49
MPEC 2007-O35 - "23:36 UT" - 2007 GD49
- K07G49D 2007 GD49 (H=16.8 ~1.48 km) from NEAT's USAF Haleakala telescope (2003 April 26.48-50p3 & 2003 May 13.43-45p3)
<< DOU on 21 July '07 >> MPEC 2007-O34 - "06:08 UT" - Daily Orbit Update
- K07L32R 2007 LR32 (arc=57 days, H=17.3 ~1.17 km) from Modra Obs. (July 21.03-04p4)
- K07G49D 2007 GD49 (arc=97 days, H=16.8 ~1.48 km) from Mt. John Obs. (July 20.35-37p4)
- K07G03S 2007 GS3 (arc=99 days, H=19.3 ~467m) from the FTP education program via Faulkes Telescope North (July 19.61-62p2)
- K07F01K 2007 FK1 (arc=125 days, H=20.2 ~309m) from LINEAR (July 20.29-32p3)
- K06R36O 2006 RO36 (arc=2 opp, H=18.0 ~851m) from Modra Obs. (July 21.05-06p2)
- K05O03E 2005 OE3 (arc=2 opp, H=20.2 ~309m) from Jim Young via Table Mtn. Obs. (July 19.46-48p3 & 20.46-48p3)
- K03M09T 2003 MT9 (q=0.200 AU, Q=4.874 AU, arc=2 opp, H=18.6 ~645m) from Greiner Research Obs. (July 20.17-18p4) and Modra Obs. (July 20.90p3)
- K01R17V 2001 RV17 (arc=2 opp, H=20.3 ~295m) from Modra Obs. (July 20.86-88p2)
- F9609 159609 2002 AQ3 from the Siding Spring Survey (SSS) (July 20.74-78p4)
- D8859 138859 2000 WN63 from SSS (July 20.64-67p4)
- 86324 86324 1999 WA2 from LINEAR (July 20.22-24p3)
- 16636 16636 1993 QP from LINEAR (July 20.27-31p5)
- 07350 7350 1993 VA from LINEAR (July 20.28-31p4)
- 05143 5143 Heracles (1991 VL) from LINEAR (July 20.32-37p5)
- 05011 5011 Ptah (6743 P-L) from SSS (July 20.43-45p3)
- 04183 4183 Cuno (1959 LM) from LINEAR (July 20.32-37p5)
Observers on 21 July '07
Eight observing facilities appear in today's MPECs.
| F653 | FTP education program via Faulkes Telescope North in Hawaii, 1 in MPEC 2007-O34 -- 2007 GS3 |
| H51 | Greiner Research Obs. in Wisconsin, 1 in MPEC 2007-O34 -- 2003 MT9 |
| 704 | LINEAR in New Mexico, 6 in MPEC 2007-O34 -- 2007 FK1, 86324, 16636, 7350, 5143, 4183 |
| 118 | Modra Obs. in Slovakia, 4 in MPEC 2007-O34 -- 2007 LR32, 2006 RO36, 2003 MT9, 2001 RV17 |
| 474 | Mt. John Obs. in New Zealand, 1 in MPEC 2007-O34 -- 2007 GD49 |
| 608 | NEAT's USAF Haleakala telescope in Hawaii, 1 in MPEC 2007-O35 -- 2007 GD49 |
| E12 | Siding Spring Survey in New South Wales, 3 in MPEC 2007-O34 -- 159609, 138859, 5011 |
| 6735 | Jim Young via Table Mtn. Obs. in southern California, 1 in MPEC 2007-O34 -- 2005 OE3 |
Impact Risk Monitoring on 21 July '07
At last check (NEODyS and JPL at 2357 UTC) there was no risk monitoring news to report yet today.
Chronology on 21 July '07
Times are UTC for when the items were noted or added by Major News.
| 2357 | Grabbed MPEC 2007-O35 - 2007 GD49 - see above |
| 2017 | Added link to news story, "CBC site for gathering of celestial observers" |
| 1703 | Added link to news story, "Gigapixel camera nearly complete" Added link to news story, "Spitzer Searches for the Origins of Life" Added link to news story, "Dawn ELV status report" |
| 1442 | Grabbed MPEC 2007-O34 - Daily Orbit Update - see above |
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