西班牙虚拟天文台的一个公民科学项目对近地小行星的预测
Precovery of near-Earth asteroids by a citizen-science project of the Spanish Virtual Observatory
摘要：
本文介绍了一个由西班牙虚拟天文台（SVO）进行的公民科学项目，该项目旨在利用天文档案中的数据改进近地小行星（NEAs）的轨道。小行星中心维持的近地小行星清单每天都要核对，以查明新的物体或已编目物体轨道参数的变化。使用NEODyS，我们计算这些物体在938046幅图像的观测时期的位置和大小，这些图像包括斯隆数字化巡天（SDSS）的第八次数据发布。如果物体位于图像边界内并且亮度比极限亮度更亮，则项目合作者（公民）将对相关图像进行目视检查，以确认或放弃NEA的存在。如果得到确认，准确的坐标，有时还有震级都将提交给MPC。利用这一方法，3，226名注册用户在项目的前15个月进行了167，000多次测量，改善了551个近地小行星（占这类小行星总数的6%）的轨道要素。更值得注意的是，这些结果是在不耗费望远镜时间的情况下获得的，因为在进行巡天时偶然观测到了近地小行星。这表明了天文档案中隐藏的巨大科学潜力。该项目的广泛接受以及所取得的成果使其成为改进近地小行星轨道参数的宝贵和可靠的工具。
英文摘要：
This article describes a citizen-science project conducted by the Spanish Virtual Observatory (SVO) to improve the orbits of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) using data from astronomical archives. The list of NEAs maintained at the Minor Planet Center (MPC) is checked daily to identify new objects or changes in the orbital parameters of already catalogued objects. Using NEODyS we compute the position and magnitude of these objects at the observing epochs of the 938 046 images comprising the Eigth Data Release of the Sloan Digitised Sky Survey (SDSS). If the object lies within the image boundaries and the magnitude is brighter than the limiting magnitude, then the associated image is visually inspected by the project's collaborators (the citizens) to confirm or discard the presence of the NEA. If confirmed, accurate coordinates and, sometimes, magnitudes are submitted to the MPC. Using this methodology, 3,226 registered users have made during the first fifteen months of the project more than 167,000 measurements which have improved the orbital elements of 551 NEAs (6% of the total number of this type of asteroids). Even more remarkable is the fact that these results have been obtained at zero cost to telescope time as NEAs were serendipitously observed while the survey was being carried out. This demonstrates the enormous scientific potential hidden in astronomical archives. The great reception of the project as well as the results obtained makes it a valuable and reliable tool for improving the orbital parameters of near-Earth asteroids.
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