Spacewatch
Spacewatch is a project at the University of Arizona that specializes in the observation of minor planets ( asteroids ) and comets . The project was founded in 1980 by Tom Gehrels and Robert S. McMillan . Robert S. McMillan is the project manager today.
The project uses a 0.9 meter and a 1.8 meter reflector telescope on Kitt Peak for observation . It is hoped that better knowledge of the minor planets in the solar system will provide better insights into the history of the development of the solar system. Particular attention should be paid to objects that may come close to Earth. The data obtained are evaluated with the Sentry monitoring system .
Discoveries
The asteroids discovered by the Spacewatch project include the near-Earth asteroids 1991 VG and (35396) 1997 XF 11 , the centaurs (5145) Pholus , (7066) Nessus and (8405) Asbolus, and the large Kuiper belt objects (55637) 2002 UX 25 and (20000) Varuna . The asteroid (719) Albert was found by Spacewatch after it was thought to be lost for almost 90 years. The periodic comet 125P / Spacewatch was discovered by this project. Spacewatch found Callirrhoe , a moon of Jupiter that was initially mistaken for an asteroid.
Eponyms
The asteroid (4255) Spacewatch was named after the project in 1990.