Data mining of near Earth asteroids in the Subaru Suprime-Cam archive
O. Vaduvescu et al.
Astron. Nachrichten, 338, 527-535 (2017)
Abstract:
As part of the EURONEAR project, almost 70,000 mosaic Suprime-Cam images
taken between 1999 and 2013 were data mined for about 9,800 near Earth
asteroids (NEAs) known by 2013 May. Using our PRECOVERY server and the "Find
Subaru CCD" tool, we scrutinized 4,186 candidate CCD images possibly holding
518 NEAs. We found 113 NEAs as faint as V<25 magnitude, their positions being
measured in 589 images using Astrometrica, then reported to the Minor Planet
Center. Among them, 18 objects represent encounters of previously single
opposition NEAs, their orbital arcs being extended by up to 10 years. In the
second part of this work we searched for unknown NEAs in 78 sequences (780
CCD fields) of 4-5 mosaic images selected from the same Suprime-Cam archive
and totaling 16.6 sq.deg, with the aim to assess the faint NEA distribution
observable with an 8-m class survey. A total of 2,018 moving objects were
measured, from which we identified 18 better NEA candidates. Using the R_c
filter in good weather conditions, mostly dark time and sky directions
slightly biased towards the ecliptic, at least one NEA could be discovered in
every 1 sq.deg surveyed.
Full Paper from astro-ph