The SPACEWATCH® telescope is used to survey for Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) during the 20 nights centered on New Moon, each lunation. SPACEWATCH® detects typically several thousand asteroids each lunation and identifies approximately 1 NEA for every 900 asteroids. Most of the detected asteroids orbit in the "Main Belt" between Mars and Jupiter. NEAs are identified by their motion on the sky. When they are near the Earth, they normally move very quickly, often more than a few degrees per day, leaving trailed images. Most other NEA surveys have detected many of their NEAs in this manner also. Even though SPACEWATCH® uses a short integration time of just about 150 seconds, several objects per year are found with exceptionally long, usually very faint, trails. We call them "Very Fast Moving Objects," or VFMOs, and they typically move between 10 and 60 degrees per day at the time of discovery.
1994 XM1 is an example of a VFMO. Often, a VFMO will be seen to rapidly accelerate or decelerate in angular speed.
1994 GK 1994GL - 2 VFMO's at ONCE! One lucky night (1994 April 7), our observer found a 2nd VFMO while following up a first VFMO discovery from half an hour earlier! This picture shows the asteroids 1994 GK and 1994 GL. 1994 GK is the longer trail in the upper right, while 1994 GL is the shorter trail on the lower left.
Pholus - SPACEWATCH® has also discovered new "Centaur" asteroids which orbit in the outer solar system between Saturn and Neptune. Our first Centaur discovery has been named Pholus and was found by SPACEWATCH® in January 1992.
1994 XM1 is an example of a VFMO. Often, a VFMO will be seen to rapidly accelerate or decelerate in angular speed.
1994 GK 1994GL - 2 VFMO's at ONCE! One lucky night (1994 April 7), our observer found a 2nd VFMO while following up a first VFMO discovery from half an hour earlier! This picture shows the asteroids 1994 GK and 1994 GL. 1994 GK is the longer trail in the upper right, while 1994 GL is the shorter trail on the lower left.
Pholus - SPACEWATCH® has also discovered new "Centaur" asteroids which orbit in the outer solar system between Saturn and Neptune. Our first Centaur discovery has been named Pholus and was found by SPACEWATCH® in January 1992.