04/03/2009 Asteroids and Near Earth Objects Workshop

Last night was the first night of the Mount Lemmon Sky Center's Asteroids and Near Earth Objects (NEO's) Workshop.
I decided to take a short break from an extremely busy tax season to try to learn a few new things. I have not done a lot of asteroid work in the past so thought it might be fun.
We started the workshop with an hour-long tour of the University of Arizona's Mirror Lab, which builds many of the world's largest telescope mirrors. They were currently in the process of grinding mirrors for the GMT (Giant Magellan Telescope), and the LSST (Large Synoptic Survey Telescope).
After driving up the mountain, we spent some time observing and imaging the Sun through a new Lunt Solar Systems 100mm Hydrogen-alpha scope. There were several small prominences and a very faint sunspot.
Later we took some data on various fields using this telescope, a 24" Ritchey-Crieten made by RC Optical Systems. We'll be processing this data today and learning how to identify asteroids in the field, as well as determine if there are any new ones. That's not likely, since the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) already covers much of the sky and presently makes about 70% of the discoveries of NEO's. While we were obtaining data, we took a walk to the dome next door, which houses the 60" telescope used by CSS. One of their astronomers was busy taking data, and he showed us their system which is really fascinating. They routinely observe as many as 8,000 asteroids per night, and it is not unusual for them to discover new NEO's, main-belt asteroids, and even comets.
The weather started to deteriorate before midnight, with high winds and humidity, so we didn't observe all night (probably a good thing since I needed some sleep badly).
Today we will learn how to identify objects in the fields, and determine whether there are any new ones to report. The speakers today will be Adam Block and a few astronomers from the CSS. We're in a very nice "Learning Center".
The picture above was taken last night as we prepared to start our imaging run. As you can see even early in the evening it was quite cold - there is even snow up here!
I also was interviewed earlier this week by a writer for the Arizona Daily Wildcat, which is the U of A's daily newspaper. They published the article, which can be viewed here, but I was disappointed because they misquoted me and emphasized the threat of an asteroid hit, which really wasn't the main focus of my comments during the interview. My main reason for being here is quite simply to satisfy my thirst for knowledge - it's interesting stuff. I'm really not planning to discover "The Big One".