2024 Shoemaker NEO Grant winner updates
From Gonzalo Fornas of Spain:
“Thanks to the new camera, we’ve reported more measurements of NEOs to the Minor Planet Center, we're on the alert list for near-Earth asteroids "Meerkat" by the ESA, we’ve measured light curves of asteroids and calculate their poles, we’ve published in the Minor Planet Bulletin, and we’ve collaborated on the Exoclock project by measuring planetary transits.”
From Andrea Soffiantini of the Serafino Zani Astronomical Observatory in Italy:
“The new camera was delivered in September and, following setup and calibration challenges along with adverse weather conditions, we started astrometric measurements in November. Comparative analysis of data spanning November 2023 to April 2024 against the corresponding period in the previous year reveals improvements in measuring fast-moving asteroids and those listed in the Minor Planet Electronic Circulars. The share of fast-moving asteroids increased from 24% to 29%, and that of those listed in the Circulars increased from 5% to 10% against the total number of measured NEOs.”
From Cristovao Jacques of SONEAR (Southern Observatory for Near Earth Asteroids Research) Observatory in Brazil:
“In 2021 we were awarded the Shoemaker Grant which allowed us to purchase two items to upgrade our observation program. Since the start of use of the equipment, both the new camera and the synthetic tracking technique using the GPU have allowed us, in addition to the more intense follow-up, to discover 12 NEOs.”
From Florent Losse of France:
“The observatory has followed up more than 700 newly discovered NEOs since January 2023, making it one of the most prolific. This period has had some highlights, such as my second NEO discovery (2023 DE3) and the tracking of impactors 2023 CX1 and 2024 BX1 just minutes after their discovery by K88. These hit the Earth's atmosphere over France and Germany respectively without any damage and provided valuable fragments found after the impact. Thanks again, these things would have been much more difficult or impossible without the help of The Planetary Society.”
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