Gary Hug
NEKAAL
Monday, October 12, 2009
4:00 p.m.
Cardwell 102
A Decade of Hunting Near Earth Objects & Other Solar System Bodies from Kansas
A brief history of the pitfalls and triumphs of a Kansas amateur astronomer hunting for previously unknown asteroids, and comets, also performing vital follow-up observations of Near Earth Objects (NEO's), Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHA's) and Virtual Impactors. Starting with a 0.3 meter Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and small CCD camera, work began in the fall of 1997 and is still active today. Also there is a short segment concerned with astrometry of in-flight spacecraft, and of the changing environment of the large sky surveys and how those surveys will continue to evolve.