The CINEOS program (Campo Imperatore Near-Earth Object Survey), started in 2001, is dedicated to the discovery and follow-up of near-Earth objects (NEOs), namely

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the Solar System#Inner solar system, inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic o ...

s and

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma, and sometimes also a Comet ta ...

s which periodically approach or intersect the Earth's orbit. In particular CINEOS is addressed to the discovery of Atens and

Interior-Earth Objects Atira asteroids or Apohele asteroids, also known as interior-Earth objects (IEOs), are asteroids whose orbits are entirely confined within Earth's orbit; that is, their orbit has an aphelion (farthest point from the Sun) smaller than Earth's p ...

(IEOs) by extending survey coverage at small solar elongations, and to the discovery of the other kind of NEOs by observing with longer exposures (up to a limiting magnitude of 21) in the opposition region. Between August 2001 and November 2004, CINEOS measured more than 61000 asteroid positions and discovered more than 1500 new objects, including several NEOs and one cometary

centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as bein ...

167P/CINEOS 167P/CINEOS () is a large List of periodic comets, periodic comet and active, grey Centaur (small Solar System body), centaur, approximately in diameter, orbiting the Sun outside the orbit of Saturn. It was discovered on August 10, 2004, by ast ...

. In June–September 2003, CINEOS was ranked fifth in the world for the number of discoveries (sixth place in the period June–August 2004) and has been the first Italian professional program to discover a NEO and an asteroid beyond the orbit of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...

. The survey is carried out at the Campo Imperatore station of the Rome Observatory near the summit of the Gran Sasso Mountain, at about 2,150 meters of elevation. The station is located about 130 km north-east of Rome. The Observatory of Turin has been also involved in this project. Operated at the Schmidt telescope (60-90–183 cm) available at the station, the program uses between 10 and 14 nights per month, usually around the first and last quarter of the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

Objectives

The science of CINEOS consists of two main observing activities:

NEO discovery

To search for near-Earth objects (NEOs), concentrating activities at small solar elongations. The objective is to optimize a ground-based system towards the discoveries of: * Aten asteroids *

(IEOs) Although the NEO discovery rate grew significantly from 2001 to 2005, knowledge of bodies with small semimajor axis remains largely incomplete (Atens) or totally incomplete (Inner-Earth Objects). Most search programs concentrate their efforts near the opposition region where it is difficult if not impossible to find these objects. Aten asteroids are also very important because numerical simulations have shown that they have the highest frequency of close encounters with the Earth. Sometimes Atens can evolve into orbits completely inside that of the Earth and vice versa. Thus, there are bodies that can come very close to the Earth, but are very difficult to observe from the ground.

Astrometry

The second goal of CINEOS is to provide rapid astrometric data for: * Follow-up of NEOs in urgent need of observations. * Recovery of NEOs at future apparitions. * Follow-up of small bodies belonging to other unusual orbital classes. The survey activity is carried out mostly at the beginning and near the end of the night, while part of the middle of night time is usually available for the follow-up work. As a targeted follow-up system, CINEOS takes advantage of the combination of the relatively faint limiting magnitude and large field of view (probably the largest in the world for this activity). Follow-up can be provided up to magnitude 21, occasionally to 22 on the best nights. Coordination of the follow-up work will be accomplished within the Spaceguard Central Node facilities. An essential side of the work is to choose targets that cannot be done elsewhere very easily during the epoch of the observing run.

List of discovered minor planets

References

External links