The Planetary Society Broadcasts 2019 Name for…

Profitable Shoemaker NEO grant proposers typically have current telescope facilities and prior observing experience, nonetheless need additional funding to take their work to the next stage. This technique initially centered on serving to to supply observers with larger telescopes and additional delicate CCD cameras to broaden sky survey safety and enhance the velocity of NEO discovery. Over time, big ground and space-based survey purposes have made good leaps forward to search out and characterizing very faint asteroids.

Thus, the Shoemaker NEO grant program has shifted its most important emphasis from discovery to bodily analysis, and to a lesser extent, astrometric follow-up. The need now might be for telescopes with apertures (and environment friendly apertures) larger than 60 centimeters (24 inches) at web sites with darkish, clear skies. Such facilities allow for assertion of NEOs fainter than magnitude V = 20.5-21, the realm the place expert surveys are discovering many new small objects. Observers with ‘day jobs’ can observe additional successfully by automating their facilities.

Functions for the current spherical of Shoemaker NEO grants are due 30 July 2019. Grant sizes are typically $5,000 to $12,000. Priority may be given to candidates who search to boost or automate large-telescope facilities. Priority may even be given to purposes which will leverage Shoemaker NEO grant funds with matching contributions from completely different sources.

Timothy Spahr, CEO of NEO Sciences LLP and the earlier director of the Minor Planet Center on the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has as soon as extra agreed to be our grant coordinator. He’ll info the course of this technique and coordinate a panel of NEO specialists which will make funding solutions. Inside the case of proposals with associated benefit rankings, alternative may be given to proposers who have not been awarded a Shoemaker NEO Grant throughout the earlier two proposing cycles, and to proposers with out important authorities funding.

The Planetary Society encourages functions from beginner and under-funded expert observers wherever on the planet. Proposers are impressed to look at our earlier winners, and browse enterprise updates highlighting their work.

We want to lengthen our sincere gratitude to our members and supporters, whose donations make the Shoemaker NEO grant program attainable.